It All Falls Down
by lilith dancer
Summary: Ariadne Walker is 99% sure that Paul Lahote and his friends are shapeshifters - it's pretty obvious unless there's another reason as to why they spend so much time in the woods, naked. It's just that, she doesn't really care. So, for the most part, she stays out of their way. Until she gets partnered with Embry Call for a project and now the pack won't leave her alone.
1. Chapter 1

If there's one thing that Ariadne Walker does well (not including cooking bacon, guessing people's heights and shotgunning three beers in a row), it's minding her own business. It's a family trait of sorts, really. When she was younger and her good-for-nothing father decided to leave her, her mother and her little brother for a much younger (white) woman - it was the talk of the town. It didn't help that after he left, her mother suffered from quite the public breakdown and cut her hair in a fit of rage in the middle of a shift (she's better now though). It also didn't help that La Push was a small community and thus it was pretty much anything anyone could talk about for months.

And it really freaking sucked.

They'd whisper amongst themselves and she'd have older women come up to her mother at the supermarket and offer her their (unwanted and unnecessary) sympathies or teachers would try and be nicer to her and say things like ' _we heard about your home issues'_ and would never push her to answer in class. Ariadne hated it. But thankfully, it died down by the time she reached high school but after suffering from almost a year of that bullshit, Ariadne vowed she'd never be like those gossip mongering _vultures_ who thought it was their job to stick their noses where it didn't belong.

So, when Jared Cameron, Paul Lahote, Embry Call, Jacob Black and Quil Ateara all contracted some sort of "illness" that had them growing a foot overnight and muscles as big as her head - she didn't say a word about it. The general consensus among the student body was that they were all on steroids and part of some cult led by the ever-so-elusive. Sam Uley. She wasn't really sure who came up with that _brilliant_ idea but for obvious reasons, she didn't buy it (truthfully, she thought that only idiots would believe that).

She didn't know what was happening to them and quite frankly, she didn't think she really cared all that much. Sure, she was in the same year as a few of them but they weren't ever friends. Ariadne was fine with minding her own business.

Of course, then she stumbled across an old Quileute book about the legends and well… she began to take notice of certain things.

It was hard _not_ to notice things. Like the one time, she saw Jacob playfully nudge Quil into the wall and in turn, made a _dent_ in Michael Burke's locker. Or the time she brushed past Jared's shoulder and she almost jumped a foot in the air because she thought she touched a heater. And there was the time her phone vibrated in her pocket and Embry perked up at the sound despite the fact that he was sitting all the way at the front of the room. And the amount of time they spent in the forest, barely dressed was questionable as well. It all added up and she came to the quiet conclusion that these boys were, most likely - as the legend went - wolf warriors.

Of course, it was really just a theory and she didn't really know how it worked exactly (how did they turn into wolves? How long did it last? Were there any female wolves?) but it was better than anything else anyone had offered up as an explanation.

Instead of doing anything about the information, she kept it to herself and began to actively avoid them. It was easy to do anyway considering they were never friends in the first place but she made a point to never go anywhere near them. Sure, they protected the rez from 'the cold ones' (she still wasn't really sure what those were) but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous and she had a feeling that having any involvement with them would lead to trouble. And she didn't think that they'd appreciate her knowing (tribal secrets and all). So, her plan was to stay away from them until she went off to college.

And for the most part, her plan went well. She stayed out of their way and they went about their cold-one-killing business.

Until the day she got partnered up with Embry Call for a history project.

xxx

"Embry Call and Ariadne Walker."

When Mr Miller called out her name, Ariadne fought the urge to groan. It was bad enough that she was getting paired up with a freaking werewolf (she didn't really know what to call him) but there was also the fact that said werewolf barely even showed up to school these days and when he did, he was always half asleep. _And_ the project spanned over the course of two months. She would've mumbled something under her breath but she was pretty sure he would've heard it.

But instead of showing any reaction at all, she picked up her books and bag and made her way to where he sat at the back of the class.

"Hey Embry," she gave him a small wave and plopped down into the seat beside him. He turned to her and gave her a small nod in greeting.

He was as polite as ever which wasn't all that surprising - he was always the most reserved of his friends. And she _did_ like him best although that had a lot to do with the fact that they both terrible cringe-inducing names (she would never forgive her mother for naming her after a mythical _princess_ ) but she liked to think that although her own name was pretty crappy, it was better than being named after a character from an old soap opera.

"Hi Ariadne," he replied before he shifted in his seat so he was facing her. She almost wanted to rear back at the sight of him - she knew he was big but she didn't realize just _how_ big he had gotten. Pre-wolf, he was pushing 5'9 but now she was pretty sure he was 6'3 and his entire frame was almost double her size. He didn't seem to notice her tenseness and merely rested his chin on his palm and waited for her to say something; he looked as if he were about to fall asleep at any given second.

She gave him a hard look and felt a pang of sympathy - the bags under his eyes weren't a good look which she felt kinda annoyed by since usually, Embry was quite handsome and served as great eye candy. He was still attractive despite the tiredness but the haggard look he was wearing didn't suit him (although Ariadne didn't think anyone could pull off that look) (except for maybe Jacob Black) (or Paul Lahote).

"We should probably do this later," she decided after a moment's silence. He looked surprised at her decision and raised a single eyebrow.

"Shouldn't we do it during school hours?" He asked in between a yawn. He stretched his arms out over his head and Ariadne could feel the warmth radiating off his skin.

"No offence but your attendance rate is pretty outrageous," she kept her tone judgement-free and was relieved when he didn't show any annoyance at her jab.

"Okay, fair point but I'm not free all the time - I - uh -"

"That's fine," she cut him off before he could spin some lie and she saw the flash of relief in his eyes. "We can work around your schedule. What time are you free?"

"I'm free until midnight," he answered automatically. He didn't seem to realize the oddness in his statement (who made plans for midnight?) and just absentmindedly drummed his fingers against the table.

"Okay, Cinderella," she snorted, purposely ignoring the way his eyes widened by a fraction when he realized what he'd said. "Well, I'm not planning on keeping you until midnight but we can work on it after school at my place or something."

"Your place?" He echoed with an unsure expression on his face.

"Unless you want to do it at yours?"

"No! Yours is fine," he shook his head hastily and again, she didn't badger him for his reasoning and merely nodded. She pulled a book from her bag and flipped the pages to where her bookmark was. Embry stared at her for a few moments, curious and somewhat relieved by her laidback attitude.

"Uh...what should we do now?" Her reaction to him was slightly jarring as most of the girls in his class were either afraid of him or crushing on him. Ariadne didn't seem to fit into either category.

"You look like you could use a nap," she told him honestly. "Why don't you catch up on some sleep while I start an outline? Mr Miller isn't paying any attention anyway."

She nodded her head towards the front where their teacher was paying more attention to his laptop than he was to his students.

"I don't want you to do the whole thing -" A scowl began to form on his as he immediately assumed that she thought he was some loser who couldn't at least help in a project.

"Relax, Call." She rolled her eyes and leant back into her seat. "I'm just doing an outline - you look like a zombie so do us both a favour and have a little nap before you start drooling."

He looked like he wanted to protest but she returned her attention to the book at hand and he was left staring at her side profile.

"Go to sleep," she told him firmly without looking from the book in hand. Instead of complaining, he merely grabbed the opportunity given to him and laid on his arm and promptly fell asleep.

He didn't wake up until the bell went.

xxx

The first time someone from the Pack came to her house, it was a Thursday night. The doorbell rang only once and Ariadne hurried to open the door, hoping it was the pizza delivery guy with the large cheese pizza she had just ordered.

Instead of her cheesy pizza, it was a shirtless and barefoot Embry Call looking as if he had just had a fight with a grizzly bear. There were leaves in his cropped hair, dirt along his bare shoulder and faint scratches running along bis naked torso.

"Holy shit, are you okay?" The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Am I late?" He breathed out, eyes flickering about her house. "And I'm fine... I tripped."

"Late for...?" Her eyebrows pinched in confusion at his question, unsure of what he was talking about. She disregarded the second half of sentence - she wasn't going to get the truth out of him so there was no point in disputing his lie.

"The project?" He prompted, as he lifted a hand to pick a twig out of his inky hair. "Didn't we agree to meet up today?"

She looked at him and fought the urge to laugh. Thursday's were the only days they finished school early and so they'd agreed that they'd meet at her place but after waiting around for hours, she'd assumed he'd forgotten and didn't bother to come.

"You're like nine hours late," she deadpanned, unsure if he was being serious. "Embry, you were supposed to be here at one, it's almost nine."

"I know but I had to swap shifts with Jake… at my job … and there was lots of trouble but I'm free now," he shrugged as he balanced on the balls of his feet.

"Embry -" she started to protest but he shook his head.

"We should definitely start this soon." He cut her off and peeked into her home. "Or are you busy?"

"Not really but -"

"Awesome, let's do this." He clapped his hands together as if that settled things and he shot her a bright grin.

"It's pretty late and I -" She wanted to point out that it was almost 9 pm and it wasn't normal behaviour for him to rock up and demand they work on a history project but just one look at him told her that he wouldn't listen.

"I'll probably be busy after this so…"

"We can do this tomorrow -" she wasn't particularly interested in the idea of spending her Thursday night working on her project

"I won't be at school tomorrow," he interrupted with a guilty expression. "I, um... yeah, I won't be there."

"... Okay, fine. Whatever," she shrugged and gave in. She understood that his schedule was whack and if this was the only time he was going to be free, she supposed she'd have to work with that. "Come in. You can sit in the lounge, I'll go grab the stuff."

She moved aside and made room for him to enter. He slowly shuffled to her living room while she bounded up the stairs to her room to grab her history things. She returned downstairs to see him on her sofa, legs folded and arms stretched across the back of the long seat.

"Ready?" She called out and made her way to him. She dropped the pile of books onto the coffee table and gave him a small smile.

"Yeah." He didn't seem eager to start and she wasn't sure why he was forcing himself to be there but she didn't bother asking and merely sat on the rug across from. Before she could appoint him some work, her mother's voice rang through the house as she heard footsteps rush down the steps.

"Ariadne, I'm leaving now! Who was that at the door - oh hello," Ariadne's mother paused at the doorway when she caught sight of the tall boy sitting on her black couch. "Who is this?"

"Oh, hi Miss Walker," Embry shot her mother an awkward smile and his hand flew to the nape of his neck.

"This is Embry Call, we're doing a project together." Ariadne's explanation was to the point and she didn't even bother glancing up at her mother.

"You Tiffany's boy?" Her mother recognized the surname as well as the dimple in his left cheek.

"Yeah," he nodded once although looked uncomfortable on the topic of his mother. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Walker. Uh, sorry for being here so late."

"You can call me Lori," she told him with a brief smile as she slipped her jacket on. "Boy, you look like you've just been run over by a truck. You okay?"

"I just got off a shift," he explained quietly as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He glanced up at Ariadne, hoping she'd jump in before her mother asked any more questions but she wasn't even looking at him

"Where do you work?" Lori was asking more out of politeness than curiosity as she pulled her hair up into a tight ponytail.

"Oh… it's like this… um… like… security thing I do for the tribe," he stammered as he looked anywhere except for her eyes. Ariadne couldn't help but snort at his terrible lie - it was really a surprise that no one else had figured him out by now.

"Right, okay." Luckily for him, Lori was even less intrusive than her daughter so she didn't even flinch at his _obvious_ lie and merely shrugged her shoulders. "Ari, my car is still getting serviced - can I take yours?"

"I thought Sue Clearwater was picking you up?" Ariadne asked as she fished her car keys out of her own bag. When she found them, she tossed them over to her mother who was getting ready in front of the mirror that hung in their hallway.

"I'm at Forks Hospital tonight," Lori sighed as she caught the keys with ease. "Mason is sleeping over Colin's house tonight so don't worry about him."

Ariadne didn't even feel slightly guilty about the fact that she hadn't even noticed her younger brother's absence. It was nice not having the little punk playing his video games on full blast.

"What time will you be home?" She asked her mother, dreading having to catch the bus to school.

"Don't worry I'll be back before you leave for school," Lori replied as she finished adding the final touches of her lipstick and pulled her handbag onto her shoulder. "Don't stay up too late and lock the door. Embry, are you staying over tonight?"

"Huh? No - I'm not - I wouldn't -" The boy in question quickly straightened and shook his head - visibly appalled by her assumption.

"Okay, well if you change your mind, there are spare blankets in the linen cupboard." Lori didn't seem affected by Embry's shock and just carried on until she was halfway out the door. "Bye, Ari! Bye, Embry! Remember to eat some dinner!"

And with a final wave, Lori was gone.

"Is she actually okay with me being here or are you going to get a growling later?" Embry voiced his doubt when he was finally able to close his gaping mouth.

"Did it look like she cared that you were here?" Ariadne snorted at his question and pulled her assignment paper onto the desk.

Her mother had a unique way of parenting. When Ariadne's father left, he had told Lori that she was too controlling and that he felt like he was being suffocated by her - Lori took that to heart. Out of fear that her kids would one day feel the same way, she had a very blase way of handling things. As long as Ariadne and Mason weren't doing anything unsafe, illegal or in negatively affected their school life, they were practically allowed to do anything they wanted.

"But what if I do some weird shit?" He wondered aloud, taken aback at how cool Lori was with leaving her daughter home alone with a shirtless guy that was clearly lying about having a job.

"Are you planning on doing some weird shit?" Ariadne quirked an amused eyebrow at his question.

"What? No! Of course not!" He immediately shook his head and she saw a faint blush appear on his cheeks.

"Then we're good," she replied as flicked through her textbook to the page she'd bookmarked and highlighted.

"Your mum is pretty cool," he commented in awe.

"Yeah except for the fact that she named me _Ariadne_ ," she complained, shuddering at her unfortunate name. Embry didn't refute her claims and merely snorted in agreement. "Here, you read this and write some points and I'll do the introduction."

She handed him a thick booklet she had compiled the previous night and he took it gingerly. He leant back into the seat and started to read it while Ariadne went about her own work.

An hour later, the only thing Embry had actually finished was three-quarters of the large pizza she had ordered (and she had a feeling that he wasn't eating as much as he could). His "work" which she could tell he was actually trying to do remained undone as he fought the urge to shut his eyes.

"Embry…" Unable to hold herself back, Ariadne heaved a sigh and placed her pen down with a frown.

"Yeah?" He mumbled back in reply as he stared down at the textbook, rereading a line for what felt like the thirteenth time.

"You look like absolute shit and you smell even worse," she grumbled and made a point by rubbing her nose which had been suffering for the last two hours.

"Huh?"

"For God's sake, just go home," she crossed her arms and gave him an exasperated look. "You're half dead! Give yourself a break, go home and sleep!"

"I can't - I mean - I don't need to!" He blustered out, looking panicked for some reason. He immediately straightened his back and shook his head frantically.

"You've been reading that same page for the last forty minutes," Ariadne clicked her tongue in exasperation. He'd written a total of three dot points as opposed to her three pages of notes.

"I'm fine!" He insisted and tried to prove a point by staring at the book in his hand. "I'll write more - I promise!"

"I'll seriously call Tiffany right now!" She threatened, not believing for a second that he was okay to continue. The moment she mentioned his mother, his head shot up and he stared at her in disbelief.

"No! I - no - Look, I can't really go home right now, my mum… she's - she's not in the best mood right now," he scratched the back of his neck and looked away. "But I'm totally fine! I'm just a little tired from the job but I can still -"

"You can cut the bullshit with me," Ariadne cut in before he could finish and rolled her eyes. "I know you don't work as a security guard or whatever lie -"

"I do work -!" He spluttered, a look of pure panic encompassing his face.

"I don't know what it is that you do every night with your shirtless friends that has you looking like you _this_." She gestured to his tired frame with a pointed look. "And honestly, I don't really care. That's your business - I'm not going to ask you to explain yourself but I _am_ going to ask that you don't make me feel guilty and just get some sleep or something. Even if it means you have to sleep on my sofa."

"... Huh?" Her response wasn't anything he was expecting and he stared at her as if she had grown an extra head.

"Embry, whatever it is you're doing has you exhausted and for whatever reason, you don't want to sleep at your own place so you can crash here." She slammed her book shut and began to pile the other textbooks on top of each other.

"... But…"

"We have two months to do this stupid project and I refuse to try and do it while you're recovering from your little … forest trips," she finished off with an impassive shrug. Sure, she had planned on avoiding him and his little crew but that wasn't going to happen and she couldn't help but feel pity for the guy - the least she could do was offer him a place to sleep.

A thank you of sorts - for protecting the rez.

"Are you being serious?" He didn't seem convinced and was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I am. For the duration of this assignment, you're free to sleep here whenever you want as long as you promise that you _some_ of the work and that," she reasoned with him as she stood up from her position on the floor.

"And you won't ask any questions?" He gave her a sceptical glance but she could see that he was seriously considering her offer.

"Have I asked you a single question about your private life?"

He remained quiet as he mulled over her question and when he came to the realisation that she _hadn't_ pried into his personal life despite being blindingly aware of his sketchiness, a grin spread across his face.

"Holy shit, you're actually the greatest person in the world," he lifted his legs onto the chair and stretched his long arms above his head.

"That's the sleep deprivation talking," she pushed him down so he was lying flat on his back on her comfy couch. "Go to sleep and next time you come over, bring some clothes to change into so you can shower."

He didn't respond and she watched in faint amusement as his eyes fluttered shut, his exhausation clearly taking over. She remained motionless for a few moments just watching him, before she snapped out of her daze and picked up her books and quietly made her way up the steps to her room - she doubted he needed a blanket, he was already warm enough as it was.

When she offered him a place to sleep, she was unaware of three things. The first being that he took the promise very seriously and would continue to show up at her house at odd hours of the night to take his spot on her couch. The second thing was that by offering him her couch, he took that to mean she offered her friendship as well. And finally; that somehow, her offer was also extended to anyone else in the pack who needed a place to sleep.

* * *

 **a/n: lol this is very different from my other twilight fic but fun to write anyways heh also this is NOT an Embry/OC fic but there'll be lots of Embry/Ariadne friendship (and well pack/Ariadne friendship) (this is a paul/oc)**


	2. Chapter 2

Embry coming over to her house at random times of the night, to sleep on her sofa brought about a few changes to Ariadne's normal routine. The biggest change was the fact that it seemed that her mother was under the assumption that the two of them were an 'item'. And Lori, the ever so responsible mother, took it upon herself to try and 'subtly' slip condoms into Ariadne's top drawer.

Ariadne found it amusing but when she let Embry know in the cafeteria as they lined up to get food, he didn't find it as humorous as she did.

"Oh, if you come over tonight, avoid talking to my mum," Ariadne muttered as she grabbed a tray and began to line up. Embry did the same and shuffled behind her.

"Yeah okay, does she hate me or something?" He wasn't very surprised by her request - he had anticipated that soon Lori would find his presence weird.

"Nah, she just thinks we're sleeping together," she informed him casually as she loaded her tray with food. While she was nonchalant, he whipped his head around to face her so quickly she feared his muscles would cramp.

"What the hell? How did she come to that conclusion?" His eyes were wide with horror as he stared down at her casual demeanour.

"Well, she's caught you leaving the house early in the morning a few times and each time you're never wearing a shirt," Ariadne almost laughed at the memory of her mother seeing Embry trying to secretly sneak off after he slept over one night.

"God - that's - is she pissed?" Embry's voice was a notch higher than usual and Ariadne found his horrified expression funny.

"Not really, just worried," she shrugged and slowly made her way to her usual table as he trailed behind her. "She's been subtly trying to hint that I should get some birth control pills."

"I'm so sorry - I can stop coming over or -" He was stumbling over his words as he ambled after her.

"Nah, it's cool. I've told her it's not like that," she shrugged as she slipped into her seat, eager to eat her lunch. Embry stood there for a few moments looking unsure until she reassured him. "It's fine, Call. Really - don't worry about it. I was just giving you a heads up in case she tries to like give you 'the talk'."

"... okay but if you get in trouble or anything I'll stop." While he felt uncomfortable with the situation, he didn't really want to _stop_ going over. Her couch was comfortable and it was infinitely better than having to spend time at home where his mother just yelled at him.

"If you want," Ariadne agreed as she sipped her soda blithely. She was a little disappointed he wasn't finding it as funny as she was but she supposed that it was awkward for him.

"I'll be around at eleven."

"The key's under the mat," she gave him a brief smile before she picked up her sandwich and took a big bite. Taking that as a cue to leave, Embry nodded and walked off to his normal lunch table.

She was halfway through her sandwich when she was finally joined by another person.

"You know I've seen that guy leave your house at six in the morning too many times not to ask - what the hell is going on with you and Embry Call?" Teya Denev asked as she slid into the seat across from Ariadne, a curious expression on her face.

Teya had lived across from Ariadne's house since they were seven years old and they'd been best friends for as long. Teya was the only person who hadn't tried to get in all Ariadne's business after the whole fiasco with her father - although it less out of respect of privacy and more to do with the fact that Teya didn't really care about anything that didn't involve her. Ariadne was nearly a hundred percent sure that Teya Denev was one of the most self-absorbed people to ever walk the planet but still, she liked her. Teya was honest and upfront and if something didn't involve her then she usually didn't care to ask.

 _Usually_ being the keyword. As self-absorbed as she was, even she couldn't ignore the new development between her best friend and one of the infamous "Uley boys".

"We're history partners," Ariadne replied swiftly, having already predicted that the brunette's question. She peeked out the corner of her eye where Embry was sitting between Jared and Paul (she had no idea how in the hell they managed to fit) and was almost certain that their table was listening in.

"History partners huh? Is that code for 'he comes to your house and you guys hook up'?" Teya asked with an amused smile flitted across her lips.

"No, it's code for 'he comes to my house and sleeps on my couch'," Ariadne snorted in response and stole a grape from her friend's plate.

"Well, if he ever needs a new place to crash, my bed is big enough," Teya said airily, a playful glint in her eye.

"I thought you were seeing that guy from Forks?" Ariadne tapped her chin thoughtfully as she vaguely remembered her talking about some Jason guy.

"He dumped me - apparently I'm too unladylike and I swear too much which is just fucking ridiculous if you ask me." She didn't seem all that upset by the break up so Ariadne didn't bother offering any sympathies. "Do you think Call would mind that I swear too much?"

"I wouldn't know," Ariadne shrugged as she took a tentative sip of her iced tea. "To be honest… I don't really think he's looking for a girlfriend right now."

She didn't know that exactly, but she just assumed that he didn't have the _time_ to be dating. He barely had the time to sleep so she wasn't really sure how he'd manage to fit in a girlfriend as well. Pre-wolf, she distinctly remembered that he and the others were just like any other teenage boys who'd jump at the opportunity to hook up with anything that had a pair of boobs but now, they seemed to avoid girls like the plague. It didn't help that they'd muscled out so much, they were pretty much all most of the female population could talk about and so now they were attracting attention way more than they ever were before.

"Ya know, Jacob Black is more my type but apparently he's tryna get with some chick from Forks," Teya stared, unabashed, at the table where Jacob sat.

"Mhm," Ariadne was more focused on eating her sandwich than she was in Jacob Black's love life (or lack thereof).

"Such a waste of a pretty face," Teya sighed dramatically as she tore her eyes away from the table where the huge boys sat. "Oh well, I guess I can find a distraction at the next bonfire party."

"Well make sure your distraction isn't some kid from middle school like that time you hit on Seth Clearwater," Ariadne laughed at the memory of the last bonfire party they'd attended when Teya had hit on Seth, not knowing how young he was. Ariadne had only known his true age as she recognised him as one of her brother's classmates.

"He's in high school now, you bitch!" Teya blustered out, an uncharacteristic blush on her cheeks. Her eyes darted over to where Seth (who was sitting next to a laughing Quil) had covered his mouth as if hiding a smile - almost as if he could hear what they were saying.

"He wasn't in high school when you tried to ask him back to your place," Ariadne sang back teasingly as she fought the urge to take a picture of Teya's red face. She was usually so unflappable so Ariadne was milking it for all it was worth.

"How I was supposed to know he was only like fourteen? God, he looks older than us," Teya scowled and roughly kicked Ariadne's shin in embarrassment although she was too busy chortling to even register the pain in her leg.

"You're lucky I didn't call the cops on you," Ariadne finally managed to gasp out after the last of her giggles had subsided.

"Honestly, what the fuck are they feeding that Clearwater kid? He's pushing 6'3 or some shit and his biceps are the size of fucking watermelons," Teya grumbled as she sulkily bit into her chicken sub.

"It's a Quileute thing," Ariadne drawled the same response that Embry had said when she had mentioned that he ate enough to feed a family of five for a year.

" _You're_ Quileute and you're not the size of a fucking bodybuilder," Teya pointed out as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I'm only half and I'm taller than you, aren't I?" Ariadne threw back in between chews. While she wasn't what some people considered 'tall' she still stood a good four inches taller than Teya's pitiful height of 5'2.

"Being taller than me isn't really anything to brag about," she huffed - her height was a sensitive topic for her. "Aw shit, I just remembered I have to go to Piers' class to drop off my English essay. God, you know he made me rewrite the whole thing just because I wrote 'fuck' in it. Stupid prick."

"I'll come with," Ariadne shoved the last of her food into her mouth and pulled her bag onto her shoulder. "I can't believe you got Piers this year _again._ "

"Don't remind me," Teya glowered at the thought of her English teacher, and stood up to rifle through her bag to pull out her English folder. "C'mon let's go."

The two of them emptied their leftovers into the trash and slowly walked to the exit - passing Embry's table as they did.

"How are you getting to the Bonfire party, anyway?" Teya queried, knowing that there was a pretty high chance of Ariadne drinking.

"I'll probably get my mum to drop me off before she goes to work," Ariadne answered with an uncertain shrug, she hadn't really thought about it since it was still a month away.

"I can give you a lift," Teya offered with a wave as if the idea of Ariadne getting dropped off was ridiculous.

"As if I want to ride in that piece of shit you call a car," Ariadne replied smoothly, chuckling when she saw her shorter friend glower at her insult.

"Fuck you," Teya shoved her shoulder although there was no real malice.

xxx

When Ariadne stepped into her English class (three minutes late), she was surprised by two things. The first was that Miss Enders wasn't there yet to give her a detention for being late - she had a hate-hate relationship with her English teacher ever since ninth grade when she'd mumbled under her breath that she was a wrinkly hag and Miss Enders had ears like a bat and heard her. The second thing that surprised her was that Jacob Black was sitting in the seat beside her usual spot. She scanned the room and saw that the only other spot available was a seat at the front beside Jennie Gallagher who never shut up so she bit back a sigh and trudged to the back. She quietly slid into the seat and tried not to stare in awe - he had to be at _least_ a foot taller than her.

He didn't make any indication that he noticed her presence and just kept eyes shut as he leant his head back against the window beside his head. If it wasn't for the fact that his shoulders were tense, she would've thought he was asleep.

"Walker," his deep voice snapped her out her staring and she almost fell off her chair in surprise.

"Black," she responded automatically although she wasn't sure why he was acting so coldly. They used to exchange polite greetings (and were on a first name basis) before he 'wolfed out' but gone was the goofy joker and she wasn't sure if it had to do with his new wolf status or that girl from Forks that Teya had mentioned the day before.

"You're staring," he shot back although he still didn't open his eyes. She wondered how he knew.

"You're really big," she blurted out before she had the chance to collect her thoughts properly. But to her relief, he just laughed and turned to meet her eyes - the laugh that left his chest didn't really meet his eyes and for some reason, it made her chest feel a little tight.

"It's a Quileute thing," he echoed her response from the other day and she wondered if he had heard. She didn't deign him a response and turned back to face the front. If Miss Enders caught her talking she'd be put in a detention. She tapped her fingers on her table and eyed the door, wondering when their teacher would walk through.

"She'll be here soon," Jacob seemed to realise what she was waiting for. "She's walking down the hallway - stomping actually, her breathing is laboured too, must be pretty pissed. She'll be here in five… four… three… two… one."

Just as he said, she walked right in on time. It was pretty obvious by the way she slammed the door behind her that she wasn't happy.

"Nice," Ariadne breathed out in fascination. She couldn't help but think that the perks of being a werewolf were pretty damn great.

"I could hear her," Jacob gave her a hard look as if daring her to question his statement. There was something weird about the way he said and it Ariadne felt like she was being tested for a second so she did what she did best and avoided it.

"You've got great hearing," she complimented with a brief smile before she reached into her bag and flipped to the pages that were written on the board. She hoped that he'd stop talking to her once he saw that she was reading.

He didn't.

Jacob didn't seem to care and continued to stare at her, as if Miss Enders wasn't at the front, fuming.

"So Embry really wasn't exaggerating about you," Jacob commented as he kept his eyes trained on her. "You really _don't_ ask questions."

"He talks about me?" Her eyebrows flew up as she tried to imagine what it was that he said about her. All thoughts about her doing work flew out the window as her curiosity took over and she turned to Jacob with an inquisitive look.

"Well, he thinks about you sometimes," Jacob shrugged and as he did, she tried not to marvel at the sheer size of his broad shoulders.

"... he's not into me, is he?" She winced at the question - while she didn't hate his company, she couldn't say that she really _liked_ him in that way but if he was mentioning her to his friends,

"Would it be so bad if he was?" He questioned with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"He's cool but not my type and I don't think I'm his either," she admitted freely. Embry was sweet and nice, sure, but not at all her type. And she also had a strict 'no dating werewolves' policy. Previously it was a 'no befriending werewolves' policy but it didn't seem to be working so she changed it up a bit.

"What's your type, then?"

She bit her lip to stop herself from saying 'not werewolves', instead she said -

"Preferably guys who don't sleep on my couch and eat all my food."

"And what do you think Embry's type is?" Jacob challenged with a raised eyebrow, interested in what she had to say.

"I do remember him having a crush on Imogen Redtree in freshman year so I'm gonna guess he's a bit of an ass man which unfortunately rules me out," she reasoned with a tap on her chin. She didn't really fit in the 'curvy' category (that was Teya) which seemed to be what Embry was into.

At her response, Jacob turned in his seat, his huge frame almost casting a shadow over her as shot her a broad smile. A more genuine one.

"You're refreshingly honest, Ariadne," he declared loudly, as he playfully clapped her shoulder. She almost flew forward in her seat despite the minimal force he'd used and she flinched at the searing heat of his skin. He reached out and steadied her with an apologetic smile.

"Uh… thanks?" She responded faintly as she bent down to pick up her highlighter which had fallen off the edge table.

"Ya know - you'd really get along well with -"

"Miss Walker, Mister Black. If you two aren't willing to listen to what I have to say right now, perhaps you'll be more inclined to listen, this afternoon. In detention." Miss Ender's voice interrupted whatever Jacob was about to say and Ariadne couldn't help but groan as she straightened up in her seat. She hated afternoon detentions; she used to be a bit of a regular during her sophomore year but that had a lot to do with the fact that Teya had always been a troublemaker and had a knack for dragging Ariadne into it.

Jacob didn't seem too worried and gave Ariadne a wink, mouthing the words ' _I got this'._ She was confused for a moment until she realised that he was going to try and charm his way out of their detention.

"Aw, c'mon Miss E, we were just talking about your new haircut! Looks great!" Jacob shot their teacher his signature goofy grin and for a second, Ariadne swore she saw her lips twitch. Jacob must've seen it too because he had a smug look in his eyes - he was sure that his brown-nosing had worked.

"It's Miss Enders and you can save your compliments for your detention."

It didn't work.

xxx

When the final bell rang indicating the end of school, Ariadne had tried to be the first person to leave the classroom but unfortunately, the student body seemed to be in just as much of a rush as she was and she was stuck behind half the volleyball team. After a few unceremonious shoves here and there, she finally managed to get out.

"Yo, Ri!" She was barely out the hallway before she felt a large arm wrap itself around her neck and she was roughly shoved back into a hard chest. She wriggled blindly for a few seconds but then recognised voice and felt a scowl encompass her face.

"Mason, get off me!" She struggled against her younger (but bigger) brother's grip and gave him a glare when he finally relented. He ignored her sour expression and offered her a cheesy grin as an apology.

"Can we stop to get ice-cream today?" He used his usual whiny voice that somehow always worked but Ariadne sighed deeply as she took a left instead of a right, where the exit was.

"I've got an afternoon detention," she explained before Mason could ask her why she was going in the opposite direction.

"Enders?" He questioned although he already knew the answer.

"Who else?" She muttered as she fixed her hair which he'd messed. She glanced at her watch and saw that she only had two minutes and she hoped that it was Mr Cooper taking the afternoon detention because if it was Piers, she'd rather get a suspension.

"How am I supposed to get home?" He complained as he followed her down the hallway.

"You can go with Teya," she quickened her pace, hoping not to be late.

"And be seen in that box she calls a car? I'd rather catch the bus," Mason sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Well, see ya! Have fun in detention."

She didn't even bother waving him off and rushed down the stairs, with only a minute left to get to detention.

"Walker!" When she reached the floor, she turned around at the call of her name.

"Hey," she turned around to see Jacob rushing up the hallway to meet her. It only took three strides for him to be standing directly before her and she blinked in surprise at his speed.

"Uh - I need a favour," he looked awkward and if she wasn't in a rush, she probably would've been more amused at the uncharacteristic anxious look on his face.

"Favour?"

"I mean… can I come over to your place… sometime tomorrow?" He asked with a sheepish smile. "I … uh, well I'm having some… troubles and you're the type not to ask questions and … yeah, I need advice on… girls… and you're a girl… and honest… and you won't pry -"

"Okay, yeah, sure, whatever," she waved him off. She needed to get to detention and she wasn't going to spend any longer listening to his spluttering, as funny as it was. "You can come over after school. Later, I have a detention - wait don't you have one too?"

"Nah, got a - uh - shift," he didn't bother further explaining and as per usual, she didn't ask any questions.

"Right, see you tomorrow," she waved at him one last time before she sprinted down the hallway.

"Ariadne Walker, right on time." Just as she opened the door, she was greeted by Mr Cooper. "You can take a seat next to Mr Lahote."

Ariadne spied the students and saw that it was more or less exactly who she had expected. Although she was a little surprised not to see Teya there - she made it her personal mission in freshman year to see how many detentions a student could get before they got expelled.

"Walker - to the back," Mr Cooper called out when she still hadn't moved. She breathed in deeply and traipsed to her assigned seat. Lahote had his head down on the table and didn't seem to care that he was taking so much room that she had to squeeze through the gap he left between his chair and the wall. She dropped her bag onto the table but that still didn't seem to wake him.

She slumped into her seat and glanced over at the senior in the seat next to her. He had his head on the table and was using his left arm as a cushion; he was facing her but his eyes were shut. He was fast asleep. It was probably the first time she'd ever seen him close up - he was a year above her so they never shared classes and it wasn't like they had any mutual friends. Despite all the time he spent with Embry and the others, even they didn't seem like they were really friends. His only friend seemed to be Jared who, from her limited knowledge, was a pretty nice guy.

Subconsciously, she scanned his face and couldn't help but think that he really _was_ good-looking. He had a reputation for being a bit of a womanizer so she'd always assumed that his looks had been grossly exaggerated but now that she could see him, that wasn't the case. His skin was russet and perfectly flawless (that made her a little annoyed, since when did eighteen-year-olds have great skin?) and his straight nose, high cheekbones and sharp jawline made her almost snort in amusement. Who knew that the big bad Paul Lahote was really actually such a pretty boy?

Nearly thirty minutes passed before he finally moved. He lifted his right arm to scratch the bridge of his nose and she blinked in surprise - only just realising that she'd spent the last half hour staring at him while he slept but before she could look away (in embarrassment), he spoke up.

"Stop staring," his voice was heavy with sleep and he didn't open his eyes. She bit down a gasp of surprise and merely cleared her throat noisily.

"Sorry," she immediately turned her head and stared down at her fingers that were playing with the zipper on her bag.

"Walker," He repeated the surname he'd hear Cooper say when she'd first walked in and she fought a blush as she realised that if he had heard Cooper say her name - he'd probably been awake the entire time. "I don't know a Walker."

"I'm a junior," she clarified as she shifted in her seat. "Ariadne Walker."

"Oh, _that_ Walker. Embry's girl?" His voice was slightly muffled as he nestled his arm further into the crook of his arm, his eyes remaining shut as he spoke.

"I'm not his 'girl' but yeah it's me," she replied tiredly as she tore her eyes away from his profile. "Is he telling you guys that I'm his girlfriend or something?"

"Nah, I just find it weird that you're letting some random guy sleep at your house so I assume you're fucking him," his words were crass and if she wasn't so used to Teya's potty mouth, she would've been surprised by his language.

"Your assumptions are very wrong," Ariadne scoffed, rolling her eyes for good measure. "We do the opposite, really. He literally just sleeps."

"And you let him sleep over?" He sounded bored, as he kept his head rested on his arm, and she wondered if he was maybe just trying to rile her up on purpose just for his own personal entertainment.

"He's my history partner," she asserted with a shrug. What was the harm in letting him sleep over? It's not like it cost anything to offer him a couch and he wasn't some weird creep that perved on her while she slept. It was _Embry._

"Do you have a crush on him or something? Seems desperate to me," Paul didn't move his head from his arm nor did he even bother opening his eyes. His tone wasn't sharp or cold and despite his mean words, the delivery was casual.

Ariadne had heard about the infamous Paul Lahote and his snark but actually experiencing it was a whole different thing. She mused to herself that while he was good looking, it was ruined by the fact that he was such an asshole.

"Jeez, are usually this sweet or am I getting special treatment?" Ariadne couldn't help but ask sarcastically as she kept her eyes trained on the clock - only ten minutes left until she could leave.

He let out a chuckle at her words and she felt herself untense slightly.

"I'm nicer to pretty girls but I don't remember what you look like," he yawned and ran a hand through his cropped hair.

There was something teasing about his tone and she felt a small smile play her lips, despite herself.

"Well you should be nicer to me because, on a scale of one to ten on a hotness scale, I'm probably an eight," she declared proudly, a full out smile on her lips now. She probably wasn't really an eight but she didn't think he was too picky when it came to girls.

"An eight? That's a pretty confident number," he kept his eyes closed but she could still hear the faint amusement in his tone. "What makes you think so, huh? Pretty face?"

"Nope," Ariadne snorted as she played with the ends of her long hair. "My face is pretty average but I've got a great rack and legs for days."

"Hmm, you know, that doesn't really sound familiar - I think I would've noticed you earlier," his amusement was clear now and she wondered what it'd take to make him open his eyes. "Are you sure you're not exaggerating?

"Well, the boobs only came in recently, to be honest," she countered thoughtfully. "And your attendance is so shit, I doubt you've ever even seen me."

"Fair point," he gave in. "But how do I know you're not lying?"

"You could open your eyes," she suggested as she leant her chin on her palm. She realised with a jolt that she was currently sitting in detention, _flirting_ with Paul Lahote. It almost made her laugh.

"I don't want to be disappointed," he returned, keeping his eyes closed. "I'm imagining a pretty hot girl now and if I open my eyes and you don't meet my expectations - well, that's gonna suck for the both of us."

"Well, I'm looking at you right now and I'm handling my disappointment just fine," she sassed with an (unladylike) snort. Her retort made him laugh and she saw from the corner of her eye as his eyes flew open. She felt his eyes rake over face and body but she was determined to stare at the front, as if she couldn't feel his felt her cheeks warm and she was thankful that she didn't openly blush.

She didn't meet his eyes but after he was done, he closed his eyes again and responded.

"Since you're a _confirmed_ eight, I'll be nice and give you some advice," he decided after the briefest silence.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, stay away from us." He didn't have to elaborate for Ariadne to know exactly who he meant when he said 'us'. "We're dangerous."

She felt a surge of annoyance at his words - usually, she'd brush off things like that but the way he said it made it sound like he was blaming _her_ for the surprising friendship. Which wasn't true. At all.

"Us?" Since when did one person turn into 'us'?

"I heard you talking to Jake," he divulged with a slight shrug. The small movement drew her attention to his shoulders and she observed that he wasn't as burly as Jacob but not as slender as Embry either.

"I'm not exactly pining for your friend's attention," she shot back heatedly. "Last time I checked, Embry was the one who made my couch his temporary bed and Jacob invited himself over."

"You offered and accepted," he countered quickly.

"Because I'm a _nice_ person," she clipped as she tried to rein in her temper. She usually wasn't argumentative but there was something about Paul that got on her nerves. "But if you must know, as soon as the project is over, my sofa won't be free anymore."

"Damn, I'm not really into nice girls." The teasing tone was back and Ariadne wasn't sure if she could keep up with his changing moods. One second he was serious and snarky and the next he was playful and flirty - it was giving her whiplash.

"I'm all torn up inside," she retorted dryly. "Although, I am curious as to what makes someone a ten in your opinion."

"Any chick who gives me food is an automatic ten." His response made her laugh loudly and at the sound of her laughter, she swore she saw the smallest smirk on lips.

"Walker, Sterling and Burke, you're free to go. The rest of you have got another hour." Cooper finally seemed to notice the time and called out to Ariadne and a few others. "And Lahote, if you see Black, tell him he owes me a week for skipping."

"Whatever," he mumbled into his arm. "Later, Walker."

He finally turned his head so that she was facing the back of his skull. Mr Cooper called out to her again and she nodded and got up to leave but before she did, she suddenly felt compelled to stay. She wasn't sure where the feeling came from and she quickly shoved the feeling down and shook her head - why in the hell would she willingly stay in detention? Glancing at Paul again, she found herself reaching into her bag and pulling out her lunch she didn't eat (an apple, two sandwiches and a packet of Doritos) and she placed it on the table next to his head. She wondered if he had the same appetite as Embry and told herself that she'd be able to eat at home.

"Here, now I'm a ten."

Before she could see his reaction, she turned on her heel and made her way out of the room - a tiny smile on her lips.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think! Paul is a ball of snark and he's fun to write! I hope you liked their first official meeting! And Teya is probably my favourite character to write lol**

 **And if you're enjoying this fic, then check out my other fic called 'the heavenly warriors' it's more action-based though and less romance (it's kinda an embry/oc) and more about female friendship but yeah :-)**


	3. Chapter 3

Ariadne liked to think that she had the ability to handle whatever life threw at her with relative ease. Her dad left her and her family? She handled that just fine. Discovering a few of her classmates were actually werewolves? She simply brushed that under the rug. Being partnered with one of said werewolves? She didn't even flinch.

What she _didn't_ know how to handle was the fact that she and Embry Call were… friends. Actual honest-to-god friends.

His visits started out as simple 'I need to use your couch' but quickly began to turn into 'I'm coming over to hang out with you'. And if that wasn't bad enough, she was even beginning a burgeoning friendship with Jacob Black of all people. He hadn't come to her house like he said he would but assured her at school that he would come over (to discuss _girl_ problems) once it was the weekend; it got to the point where Miss Enders had to force her to sit at the front because they spent the entire period talking. But, still, that didn't take away from the fact that she and Embry Call were friends.

Really good friends.

And she didn't really mind. Honestly speaking, she enjoyed his company. He was funny and whenever she bought assorted donuts, he'd always eat the flavours she liked the least (strawberry filled and peanut butter), leaving the chocolate and plain glazed for her. And what was even weirder was the fact that she had no romantic feelings for him _at all._ She felt a connection to him that she couldn't really explain it but she had the weirdest feeling that he felt it too.

Her suspicions were confirmed one evening as she was sitting on her couch, watching some lame kung fu movie (Mason had stacks of them) while wondering what colour to paint her toes. She heard the front door open and the familiar sound of feet moving against her wooden floor.

"Hey Embry," she called out without even looking behind her. "Do you think I should paint my toes red or black?"

"How'd you know it was me? " Embry's surprised tone echoed through the hallway as he made his way to where she was lounging. "And I like black."

"I could smell you," she answered as she unscrewed the black nail polish and wiggled her toes. He all but crashed onto the end of the couch where her feet were.

"I had a shower before I came!" He squawked indignantly as he lifted an arm up to his nose and sniffed himself. She huffed when his sudden movement almost caused her to spill her varnish. He offered her an apologetic smile and caught the tubes of nail polish before they fell onto the periwinkle rug.

"I know but you and Jake have a … like a natural scent," she pointed out as she cocked her head to the side and inspected her painted big toe. "You're right by the way, black suits me."

"Great, I smell the same as Jake," he complained and shuffled down a bit further along the long couch so he wouldn't disturb her painting.

"No, you smell different from him," she answered as she looked up from her freshly painted toenails. He tilted his head to the side and gave her a curious look; his eyebrows were pinched together as if he was trying to solve a very complicated puzzle. Which was odd considering the fact that Ariadne was the most _un_ complicated person in the world.

"Different how?" He inquired, his bemusement still apparent on his face.

"You just smell different from each other, your smell is less… I don't know, it's not as strong as Jake's," she trailed off awkwardly as she tried not to look up. She didn't really know what she was saying but she knew that Jacob and Embry and even Paul (despite their very limited interaction) had a different smell. She wondered if it was a side effect of spending too much time around the shapeshifters and it slightly worried her.

"Right," he brushed it off and settled back into the cushion. She was about to ask him if he wanted to paint her other foot (he was surprisingly quite good) but she noticed a frown on his lips that made her stop. It wasn't his usual 'I'm shy' frown, it looked more … upset and serious. She inspected him for a bit longer and mirrored his frown when she saw that he didn't let up and remained looking downcast.

She internally debated with herself for a few moments over whether she should ask about it or not. The whole reason why he liked her in the first place was because she _didn't_ ask questions. But on the other hand, there was a nagging tug on her chest urging her to ask.

In the end, she went with her gut and for the first time in almost three weeks, she asked him a personal question.

"... Is everything okay?" She eyed him in concern as she watched him dazedly stare at the TV screen; she was sure he wasn't even watching it. When he didn't answer immediately, she didn't push it and merely stretched out her feet and shook them around a bit, hoping to dry them quicker.

"Embry?" She tried again, hoping her nails wouldn't get ruined when they brushed against his denim cutoffs.

"Huh? Yeah? It's fine," he was quick to reply which did nothing to soothe her worries.

"Okay, want a donut?" She handed him a strawberry filled donut before he even answered yes and he shot her a grateful smile.

There was another awkward silence.

"It's just - " he started to talk but quickly broke off before even started.

"Yeah?" She gave him an encouraging look and tried not to seem too demanding.

"Actually don't worry it's this … you wouldn't understand - just issues about my dad - I don't know it's stupid," he grumbled and avoided her eyes.

"Yeah daddy issues, totally don't get _that_ ," she raised an eyebrow - sure that even he knew about the disaster that was her father.

"Oh, shit no I mean - crap -" He had the decency to look embarrassed as he avoided eye contact again.

"It's cool, I don't even care anymore." That was a bold-faced lie but luckily for her, she was a much better liar than he was and he didn't seem to notice and just leant back in his chair. He was quiet again and all that could be heard was the movie playing in the background. Ariadne had stopped painting her nails and just looked at him for a few moments, knowing he'd talk soon.

As she was just about to offer him a glazed donut (her favourite), he suddenly began to talk.

"I don't even know who my dad is and it's not like my mum will ever tell me," he closed his eyes and clenched his jaw tightly. "And I think - no, I know - that either Sam, Jake or even Quil is probably my half-brother."

She had no idea how he could possibly know that but she merely nodded and nudged his thigh with her foot in what she hoped was a comforting manner.

"And being stuck with this huge elephant in the room just sucks ultimate ass," he continued, throwing his arms up into the air for good measure. "If my mum had never gone and fucked up so badly, we would never have come to the Rez and I would have never - "

He cut off abruptly and Ariadne didn't make any move to press on for more information, which he seemed grateful.

"I just hate this feeling of... resentment that I harbour towards my mum," he sighed deeply. "She doesn't deserve it and I want to have someone to blame but who? My dad probably. But I don't even fucking know who he is."

A slightly awkward silence filled the room after his outburst until he spoke up again.

"Shit, I'm sorry for unloading all of this on you. You must think I'm crazy or some shit." When he was done, she could see a tinge of red on his cheeks and she wasn't sure if it was from the anger and frustration or the embarrassment of telling her everything.

She _did_ think he was crazy for feeling comfortable enough to tell her some of his most private inner thoughts. But she thought she was even crazier for feeling the urge to tell him all of her secrets as well.

"Nah, I don't think you're weird," she lied and grabbed another donut for him. He caught it with ease and as always, ate it in two huge bites. "Parents pretty much screw up all the time. My name is proof enough."

"Ariadne isn't all that bad," he hummed as he finally opened his eyes and met her gaze.

"You can call me Ari, I'd actually prefer it." There weren't many nicknames one could get from the name 'Ariadne' and Ari was the only thing that she somewhat liked so she supposed she'd have to go with that.

"I don't know why you dislike it so much, it's not a bad name," he told her again with a shrug. She couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not so she took a wild guess and assumed he was teasing so she shot him a glare.

"I'd take your compliment a lot more seriously if your name wasn't Embry," she deflected with a low chuckle.

"Fair." He laughed aloud and it sounded eerily similar to Jake's boisterous laughter - she liked it. "Where did your parents come up with that name, anyway?"

"It was my mum's idea - she read it in some Greek textbook but my dad was even worse with my middle na - uh, yeah Ariadne is a terrible name." She immediately broke off and her head shot up to see if he had noticed her slip up. Judging by his raised eyebrows, he certainly had caught it.

"You have a middle name?" His eyes were dancing and she was hit with the urge to kick him.

"No."

"What is it?" He badgered, there was a mischievous smile on his lips that didn't bode well for her. "Is it something Greek related as well? Is it … Aphrodite? Or is it some old lady name like… Clementine?"

"I don't have a middle name," she insisted and tried to focus on finishing painting her nails, although it was difficult with Embry staring at her.

"Tell me!" He made a swipe for her but she managed to just dodge his hand and shot him a withering look. "Tell me! Please!"

"My brother doesn't even know my middle name so there's no way in hell you're ever finding out," she poked her tongue at him for good measure.

"I'll find out one day, Ariadne." He pulled her legs towards him and placed them on his lap and returned his focus to the television. While she found his actions kind and friendly, she couldn't help but feel guilty if there was a chance that he thought perhaps, there was something more… romantic about it. So, she nudged him with her foot until he looked at her.

"... Embry, do you like me?" She asked him straightforwardly, with a tilt of her head. Just from his instant reaction, she knew that he certainly did not. He all but threw her legs off him and scrambled to put some space between them.

"What? God, no! No! No, I - no! I've never thought - no! I - just, no." He shook his head vehemently, looking at her with panicked eyes. Ariadne wasn't sure if she was relieved or offended by the horror on his face at the thought of having romantic feelings towards her.

"Okay, one 'no' would have sufficed," she gave him a mock offended look but he didn't seem to notice the underlying teasing tone in her voice and looked guilty.

"Ah, I didn't mean it like that," as it always did when he was flustered, his hand flew up to the nape of his neck. "I mean you're great - even kinda pretty -"

"Kinda?"

"Oh no, I mean really pretty!" He was more flustered than she'd ever seen him and it took all of her willpower and more not to burst out laughing. Instead, she raised an eyebrow, as if unimpressed.

"What makes me pretty?" She was teasing him but he didn't seem to catch on and his eyes widened even further.

"I mean - you've got… great … hair? And nice legs," he was scanning her body and she hoped he couldn't see her fighting off a laugh. "And you've got a decent rack -"

"Decent? I've got a _great_ rack," this time when she cut in, she really was a little annoyed. Her boobs had filled out nicely over the summer and she wasn't going to have them being disrespected so easily.

"I mean -" His voice had become high pitched and Ariadne was finding it increasingly difficult not to laugh. She risked a glance up at his face and saw that his cheeks were flaming red and before she could stop herself, a laugh escaped her lips

"Relax, I'm just fucking with you," she cackled even harder when she saw the exasperated expression that had now taken over his face.

"Shit, don't fucking do that!" He breathed out a sigh of relief and shook his head. "You're awesome, Ari. Really but you feel like, I don't know… just not… like -"

His stuttering was cut short with the sound of the door flying open. Embry moved quicker than she'd ever seen and all but jumped off the couch with an elegant flip (that made her think he probably did parkour) and landed in a crouched position. He eyed the door but immediately stood up when he heard the familiar voice.

"Ari! Can I borrow your red sweater for tomorrow? My - oh, hello," Teya had unceremoniously barged in but skidded to a halt at the sight of Embry standing in the middle of the living room. Ariadne's first thought was that her best friend had come in on purpose, to try and corner Embry but she quickly shook herself of that idea when she saw what Teya was wearing; she was dressed in her pyjamas that consisted of an oversized ratty shirt and grey sweatpants.

"Hi Teya," he greeted her smoothly as if he hadn't just looked like he was about to attack her less than three seconds before.

"Embry," she breathed out and Ariadne felt mortified on her friend's behalf when Teya blatantly began to rake her eyes along Embry's body. "Did I … interrupt something?"

"I was just leaving actually," he was either oblivious to her appreciative looks or he was being polite by pretending not to notice. Ariadne had a feeling it was the latter.

"That's a shame," Teya looked put out for a second before she moved out of the way so he could walk past. "I'll guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah. Later Ari," he playfully pushed her head as he walked past and he shot Teya a half smile. "Bye Teya."

As soon as he left, closing the door behind him, Teya grasped her heart dramatically and flopped onto the couch where Ariadne was sitting, completely having forgotten why she came for in the first place.

"Teya!" Ariadne shrieked as the shorter girl carelessly threw herself over her freshly painted nails. She kicked Teya off, causing the brunette to tumble off the couch, onto her back.

"Embry Call is so fucking gorgeous," Teya sighed with a delirious smile on her face. Ariadne rolled her eyes but didn't bother refuting - while she didn't like him like that, it wasn't like she was blind. Embry Call really _was_ something to look at.

xxx

Not for the first time, Embry had left his phone at Ariadne's house. He was barely ever on it so she didn't know even know why he had it in the first place - he told her it was for when his mother called him but she every time she did, Ariadne saw him reject the call.

Usually, whenever he left his phone at her place he'd either return a few hours later or she'd return it to him at school. She wasn't really sure why he needed a phone, he only really ever spoke to his 'pack' and they were basically attached to the hip. She didn't even have his number. Regardless of his reasonings of having a phone, it never really rang so it was never like he missed calls.

Well, it _usually_ never rang.

For the first time, the ringtone blared suddenly while Ariadne was sitting at her desk, studying for her next test. The phone was on the corner of the table and she almost fell off her bed in surprise - she glanced at the screen and saw that someone under the contact name ' _asshole_ ' was calling. She couldn't help but snort and wondered who it was.

For some reason that she didn't understand (because she was never the type to answer a phone that wasn't hers), she found herself sliding her fingers across the screen and she pressed the phone against her ear.

" _Embry you fucking prick, you're so late for -"_ Whoever it was seemed to live up to his name as he all but snarled into the phone.

"Um, this isn't Embry," she cut in before they could continue their tirade.

" _...Walker?"_ Whoever it was recognized her voice instantly and her eyebrows pinched; she didn't like that they knew who she was but she didn't know them.

"Yeah," she confirmed slowly as she wracked her brain over who it could be. There was a long silence on the phone and she wondered if they'd hung up.

" _You sound different on the phone,"_ he finally said after a while.

"... Jake?"

" _Try again."_ This time, his comment was accompanied by a deep chuckle and a memory of a slumbering student flashed in her mind.

"Oh… hi, Paul," she breathed out once the arrogant tone registered in her mind. "Embry left his phone here."

" _And you thought you should pick it up?_ "

"I was curious as to who he named 'asshole'," she declared as she set her pen down and slowly stood up from the comforts of her chair.

" _Where is that little shit anyway?_ " Paul huffed although he didn't sound all that mad.

"He didn't tell me where he was going but I think maybe to see his mother," she guessed as she padded across her carpeted room.

" _You didn't ask him where he was going - oh wait, you don't do the whole asking questions things, huh."_ Paul sighed and she imagined him running a hand through his hair.

"Nope." At his comment about her habits, she wondered just how much Embry talked about her if Paul knew even that small tidbit of information.

" _Is that Ariadne? Let me talk to her!"_ She was certain she heard Jake in the background and she unconsciously smiled.

" _Fuck off,_ " Paul grumbled and she heard the unmistakable sound of someone being punched in the gut.

" _C'mon, I was supposed to go over - Paul, don't be a dick, let me -"_ Jake wheezed, no doubt hunched over from Paul's uppercut.

" _I already told you to -"_

She didn't hear the rest of whatever Paul had to say because there was another grunt and she heard the distinct sounds of a fight. The phone sounded like it had been dropped before it went dead silent. She looked back at Embry's phone and wondered if they'd broken the phone but a few moments later, she heard a voice.

" _Hey Ari!"_ A cheerful voice interrupted her thoughts to inform her that the phone had managed to stay alive during the tussle.

"Hi, Jake," she put the phone back to her ear and smiled at the sound of his booming voice.

" _Sorry I didn't come over again, I got held up."_ His apology was sincere and she could almost see his wide grin as he spoke.

"Don't worry about it," she reassured him; she had forgotten about his rescheduled meeting anyway.

" _I'll definitely be over tomorrow though,"_ he chirped happily. He sounded as if he was jogging and she thought she could hear annoyed yells.

"Uhuh, I won't get my hopes up though," she responded dryly.

" _I'll be there tomorrow after school! I might even bring Seth, he wants to meet you!"_ She'd met Seth several times before (her mother and Sue were good friends) so she was unsure as to why he wanted to meet her again.

"Paul sounds pissed," she could his shouts in the background and it almost made her giggle.

" _He always sounds pissed,_ " Jake dismissed her worries but before he could say anything else, there was more static and she was sure they had gotten into another tussle. She waited patiently until she heard even breathing from the other side.

" _You got Jake too, huh."_

"Paul, you're back." She wondered why she felt warm at the sound of his voice.

" _I thought I told you to stay away from us,"_ his reply wasn't what she was hoping for but it was what she expected. She noted that he didn't sound upset.

"I thought you were nice to pretty girls," Ariadne mock pouted even though she knew he couldn't see her. The logical part of her brain was screaming at her that it wasn't a smart idea to tease a werewolf but there was something else telling her that he was… safe. It was weird and her insides felt like they were at war with each other but she squashed the feelings down and sat down on her couch, an amused grin on her face.

What was the harm in a little flirting?

" _I am but it's hard to remember what you look like,"_ he replied smoothly. He seemed to enjoy their flirting as much as she did.

"Great rack, remember?" She reminded him as she subconsciously twirled the end of her hair and paced around her bedroom.

" _It's coming back to me now, yeah."_ He hummed thoughtfully and she imagined him tapping his chin.

"I mustn't have been that memorable," she decided as she tapped her fingers against her vanity.

" _I_ was _half asleep,"_ he defended himself with a chuckle.

"It's all good," she shrugged and fought off a smile. "You weren't very memorable either."

" _Y'know, your sass might bring you back down to a nine,"_ he shot back lightly.

"Hey, no take backs," she laughed into the receiver at his comeback. "I gave you food thus I'm a ten and it remains that way until… I'm dead or something."

" _Sure, you're a ten for life then,"_ he conceded, humour lacing his tone. " _Although most ten's don't spend their time with losers like Jake and Embry."_

"Please, we both know Jake is like an eleven," she snorted as she thought back to the undeniably attractive Quileute in her English class. "And Embry's a solid nine. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I have no idea why they spend any time with _you_."

" _You don't think I'm a ten?_ "

"... Am I supposed to?" She was lying through her teeth. Everyone and their mother knew that Paul Lahote was a ten but she didn't like his overconfidence.

" _Unbelievable,"_ he laughed. " _Okay, let's say that I'm an … eight -"_

"Or a seven," she suggested teasingly.

" _Let's be realistic, sweetheart,"_ the endearment although said sarcastically, made her heart skip a beat and she hoped that he couldn't hear it over the phone.

"Fine, let's say you're an eight," she agreed after her heart settled down.

" _What would make me a ten?"_

"Hmm...sort of the same as you actually," she mused as she remembered his condition for being a ten.

" _So, food?"_ He let out a loud laugh but it didn't sound like Jake and Embry's booming laughter; she decided she liked Paul's better.

"Not just any food," she tutted before licking her lips. "A dozen donuts - half glazed and the other half chocolate. That's pretty much the key to my heart."

" _Glazed donuts? Gross,_ " he gagged and she nearly dropped the phone in surprise.

"Did you just say glazed donuts are gross?" She almost wished he was in front of her so she could whack him in the head for saying such a stupid comment. "That just pushed you down to like… a three."

" _They don't even taste nice,"_ he scoffed in equal disbelief as if he couldn't believe the fact that she liked such a food.

"Name three things that taste better than glazed donuts!" She demanded with a shake of her head - to not like glazed donuts didn't even make any sense. But even as she said it, there was still this weird giddy feeling in her stomach.

" _I can name just_ _ **one**_ _that'd put glazed donuts to shame._ " His suggestive tone seemed to immediately sober her up from the daze she was in. She could almost see the smirk on his face and she wondered what she was trying to gain from this - they couldn't be friends. Sure, she was friends with Embry (and to a lesser extent, Jake) but once things started going south (and they would), it'd be over and they'd inevitably leave her. She was already dreading having to stop being friends with two of them, she wasn't going to make it three.

The flirting was fun but she wanted that to be it. _Just_ flirting.

 _"Cat got your tongue?"_ He pressed on when she didn't reply.

She bit her lip to stop herself from making a dog reference and instead, shook her head and cleared her throat.

"Listen, flirting with you is super fun but I've got calculus homework that needs to be done," she sighed airily like Teya did sometimes and waited for a reply. There was a brief silence and she knew that she'd surprised him.

 _"Are you -"_ Whatever question he was about to ask would remain a mystery because Ariadne interrupted again.

"Maybe I'll see you around in school sometime," she offered despite both of them knowing full well that unless they actively sought each other out, there was no way they'd cross paths.

 _"You're… interesting, Walker."_

"Good to know," she snorted and laid down on her bed, facing the ceiling. "Bye, Paul."

She didn't bother listening for a reply and hung up. She wasn't sure why she felt so upset when she did but she hoped that the weird feeling of loss would go away.

xxx

For the second time in one week, Teya was bugging Ariadne about what the true nature of her relationship with the so-called 'La Push Gang'. They were eating lunch while sitting near the football field in the sun since Teya insisted that they did so she could tan and Ariadne didn't put up a fight (since it allowed them to talk about Embry and his friends without them overhearing it).

Teya was adamant that there was something going on and was getting mor _e_ frustrated by the second with Ariadne's one-worded answers. Of course, they were vague for a few reasons.

One; even Ariadne didn't even know herself how they became friends. Two; Teya was the kind of girl to fixate - once she wanted something or was interested in it, that's all she'd think about for months on end. And Ariadne didn't want her to fixate on the wolves. And finally; she didn't even know how to put in words the weird connection she felt with Embry and Jake and if she did - she'd probably be admitted to some kind of mental house.

"So you're _not_ dating Embry Call?" Teya stared at her through squinted eyes as she all but shoved a forkful of pasta into her mouth.

"Nope," Ariadne replied as she picked out the meat in her sandwich (she must've accidentally grabbed Mason's lunch) and tossed it to the side.

"But he comes to your house and sleeps there sometimes," Teya continued with both eyebrows raised to her hairline.

"Yep."

"And you're not dating Jacob Black either," Teya confirmed as she recalled all the times she'd seen Jacob send hearty waves in her directions or he'd loudly call out to her whenever he saw her.

"Nope."

"But he's coming over to your house this weekend?" Teya's tone was practically drowning in curiosity.

"Correct." Ariadne wasn't particularly fazed by Teya's constant badgering and merely sipped her coke.

"Are you going to explain anything?" Teya huffed when she continued to get one-worded answers.

"Nope," she shook her head and glanced at her watch, wondering if there was enough time for her to drive to the donut shop.

"Really?" Teya questioned with a slight frown.

"Really." Ariadne nodded and frowned when she saw that she had accidentally spilt some of her drink on her bag.

"Fine." Teya relented and sighed deeply but she knew better than anyone else that if Ari didn't want to talk about something - she _really_ wouldn't talk about it. Teya instead returned her attention to devouring the rest of her pasta when someone noisily cleared their throat.

Both girls' head snapped up at the sound and equally confused expressions crossed their faces when they saw an unfamiliar freshman standing in front of them.

"Ariadne Walker?" He squeaked out, looking terrified. He was looking at Teya but she quickly waved over to where her friend was sitting, redirecting his gaze to Ariadne.

"... yes?" She didn't bother standing up and she looked at the redhead with a curious expression. She turned to her friend sitting beside her but she didn't seem to recognize the newcomer either.

"Uh, Paul Lahote told me to give this to you," he managed to say after a long silence.

"Paul Lahote?" Teya whipped around with a bewildered expression - Ariadne had the exact same look on her own face.

"Give me what?" Ariadne felt her stomach tie into knots as she eyed the boy in front of her warily.

The freshman didn't answer and just handed her the paper bag before he ambled off, not waiting for a response.

"What is it?" Teya pushed her lunch to the side and moved closer to Ari.

"No idea," she murmured in response as she pulled out the box inside the bag. She placed it on the ground between her and Teya and opened the white box with curiosity. The contents made her face split into a huge grin.

Inside, were a dozen donuts, half of them glazed and the other half chocolate.

* * *

 **a/n: there'll be more paul in the next chapter! and they'll have a proper meeting lol thanks for the reviews! they're the real reason i'm updating so quickly HAHa so don't be afraid to drop a review to let me know what ya think :-)**


	4. Chapter 4

When Ariadne woke up an hour before her alarm went off and with a sore back, she should've known that the day was going to be terrible. But she didn't think that and instead of rolling over and going back to sleep like she would any other day, she made the spontaneous decision to get ready early. That way she could fit in breakfast.

It was a terrible mistake.

Since she was ready early, it also meant that she caught her mother before she left for work.

"Oh, you're up early," Lori looked surprised as she saw a fully dressed Ariadne enter the kitchen. "I .. uh, made some breakfast."

That should've been another red flag (Lori never cooked) but like she did with everything, Ariadne ignored it. She dragged her feet over to the bench and hopped up into one of the stools and immediately poured herself some coffee.

"Ari, baby." Lori paused "I uh- was going to write a note but since you're here now…"

She trailed off and looked away. Another red flag. Again, ignored.

"Hmmm?" Ariadne was only half awake but after a bit more coffee she would be fine.

"See.. the thing is…" Lori looked ill and Ariadne finally gave her full attention as her mother shifted on the spot.

"... Did you crash my car again?" The last time she was acting this shifty, she had rear-ended another car with Ariadne's car.

"No!" Lori shook her head and abruptly turned around to her something off the frying pan. "Here I cooked some sausages for you."

"I'm vegetarian," she reminded her mother as she pushed the plate of sausages away from her. She'd become vegetarian at the ripe age of 13 after watching a documentary in Health class but that still didn't take away from the fact that she cooked the best bacon (according to Mason at least).

"Of course! Here, have some pancakes," Lori pushed a plate of burnt pancakes towards her and offered her daughter a barely-there smile. While Mason (who was probably still dead asleep) could eat dirt and still be satisfied, Ariadne was a bit pickier but she knew that her mother probably put some effort into it, so she gracefully loaded the crispy breakfast onto her plate.

The thing about her mother was that, well, after the less than amicable split from her father, Lori kind of distanced herself from her children. Of course, she loved them both but she threw herself into work and took as many shifts as the hospital would allow her - anything to get her out of the house. Ariadne took it well and tried her best to fill in the gaps (she got really good at forging her mother's signature) but it wasn't the same. And in a way, it felt like they lost both their parents.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Lori started slowly as she eyed Ariadne who was chewing her food with much difficulty.

"Okay," Ariadne met her eyes but Lori's eyes flickered away.

"I was hoping you'd tell Mason," she tucked her hair behind her ears and Ariadne fought the urge to tap her fingers impatiently.

"Tell him what?" She was panicking now, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Ezekiel called last night," Lori finally breathed out after what felt like hours of silence.

Ezekiel. Her father. Just the name alone made Ariadne pause and she suddenly felt sick. He hasn't contacted them since he'd left (not even when Mason got hit by a car) and a small, tiny, _minuscule_ part of her hoped that maybe he was calling to come back.

"Oh, okay." She didn't even know what else to say but she couldn't bear to get her hopes up.

"He - uh - wants to invite you two to his wedding to his … fiance," Lori was staring down at the marble bench.

Time seemed to slow and Ariadne was hit with a thousand emotions. Anger. Hurt. Betrayal. Fury. She was angry. So angry.

But she kept it in.

Like she always did. She didn't say anything but she nodded slowly, urging her mother to continue.

"He knows that you probably won't want to come so he's going to come down to visit to uh, convince you," Lori was looking anywhere but at her. She kept glancing at the clock, no doubt counting down the seconds until she had to leave for work.

She wanted to avoid it all.

Ariadne didn't say anything and merely took a bite of the pancake - it wasn't like she could taste the burnt flour.

"Say something," Lori pleaded after there was nothing but silence.

"What do you want me to say?" She replied as she stared at her mother blankly. What was there _to_ say? Her father was a bundle of disappointments and she hated that she missed him so much.

"He said he wants to rebuild a relationship with you. And Mason." Lori tried to explain but Ariadne let out a bout of laughter at her mother's words.

"No, he doesn't. We tied him down, remember?" Ariadne tried not to sound bitter but it was hard.

She vividly remembered her father's parting words. He claimed that they were too much, too constricting, he wanted freedom from them. He wanted control over his own life - not to be stuck taking care of kids that he never really wanted. He didn't mean to knock up his girlfriend when she was nineteen. He didn't want to be _forced_ into a life he didn't want. Ezekiel was a great man (smart, funny and ambitious) but his talents were being wasted by being a father. He wanted to be free and he wanted Lori too but not the kids. They chained him down.

So he left.

"He's still your father," Lori chided softy although she said it in such a hollow way, Ariadne felt guilty for even saying such a thing.

"... I don't want to see him," Ariadne gritted her teeth and willed herself not to show any anger. He wasn't worth it.

Lori nibbled on her lower lip and for a second, she looked like she was about to reach over and comfort her. Ariadne held her breath in anticipation but the comfort never came and Lori merely looked away to the clock hanging on the wall.

"I'm going to be late and I have a double shift," she sighed and smoothed her hair. "I'll see you sometime tonight, order some pizza or heat up the lasagna from last night. Bye, I love you."

She left in a flurry without sparing her daughter a second glance.

She never even looked at Ariadne

Ariadne knew it was because she looked just like her father. Everyone said so. Mason took after Lori with his light brown hair, rounded nose, olive complexion and the hazel eyes that Ezekiel used to swear was what made him fall in love with her in the first place.

Ariadne took after her father. Her hair was dark brown, her nose was straight, her skin was bronze and her eyes were as dark as night. Ezekiel used to swear he could see constellations in her eyes. Every year on her birthday (July 8th) at 9pm, he would take out his rusty telescope and show her the constellation called 'the northern crown' - it was the Greek myth of Princess Ariadne and the labyrinth. It used to be her favourite story. It used to her mother's favourite story as well.

Ariadne knew that Lori locked that telescope away in the basement her first birthday after he left. She knew she couldn't stand to look at it.

And she knew that a small part of Lori couldn't stand looking at her own daughter, and seeing the man who left them and tore her heart to pieces. And she also knew that a small part of Lori hated Ezekiel for leaving _her_ not just her kids. And she knew that a small part of Lori blamed Ariadne for the fact that Ezekiel left because if it wasn't for her, they would've had never have had Mason (Ari was the one who begged for a sibling) and if it wasn't for her, Lori probably would've been an artist like she always dreamt of being and if it wasn't for her, Lori would've been out of La Push (she had to drop out of art school and move in with her parents when she fell pregnant with Ari).

And if it wasn't for her, Ezekiel would have never have left Lori.

Lori had never shared these thoughts and feelings with anyone but Ariadne knew. She felt it every day when Lori took extra shifts or when Lori couldn't stand looking at her. She saw it in the guilty looks that Lori sent her whenever she felt bad for even thinking that.

She knew perfectly well that even if she didn't mean to, her mother still blamed her for Ezekiel leaving.

xxx

Ariadne's foul mood only worsened as the day progressed. Jake wasn't in English so she was forced to suffer under Miss Enders alone and then when maths came around, she realised she had left her textbook on her kitchen counter when she left in a huff and then in chemistry, her pen broke and her ink splattered all over her hands and white shirt.

By the time it was fourth period, she was just about ready to kill someone as she came to halt when she spotted a multitude of students were gathered around something, effectively blocking her from her locker. She stood on her toes and looked over the heads of the students standing around until she saw a familiar tuft of hair. She shoved her way through the crowd until she was standing next to her younger brother, who was, as always, right where all the action was. He was standing beside Teya who looked just as confused (she was probably trying to get to her own locker which was being blocked by Jacob Black).

"What's going on?" She asked as she finally got to the front. She immediately saw Jake and Quil looking like they were holding someone back but she couldn't see who it was thanks to Jake's huge frame.

"Zach Freeman," Mason jutted his chin over to where the linebacker was laughing loudly, his eyes zeroing in on Jake who still had his back turned. "Apparently he said something about your boyfriend being a bastard or something, I don't know."

If it was any other situation, she would've hit Mason (she had told him a million times she and Embry were just friends) but her shock was too much and she whipped around to see where he was.

"What?" Her eyes widened in shock and she tilted her head and saw Embry.

For all the times she'd seen Embry, he'd always been reserved and easygoing but at that moment, he looked like a whole new person. His eyes were dark and he seemed to be almost… vibrating with anger. He was being held back by Jake and Quil and Ariadne's attention snapped to Zach Freeman who was still laughing, egging Embry on.

"Freeman was pissed about something that went down during gym and he called Embry's mum a few insults," Mason continued as he watched the tense showdown, eager for a fight to break out.

To Ariadne's surprise, she felt a fury sweep through her body. She had never had a problem with Freeman - sure, he was a jerk but he never did anything to her so she didn't care. But for some reason (probably because Embry was her friend), she wanted nothing more than to smash his head into the locker behind him.

"He looks like he's having an epileptic fit or something," Teya murmured, as she unconsciously stepped backwards to create more space between her and where the shaking boy stood.

"I don't know why Call doesn't just beat the shit out of Freeman - he's fucking huge," Mason whistled as he saw Embry's muscles ripple under his black shirt.

Ariadne knew exactly why. A hit from someone like Embry would probably kill Zach or severely disfigure his face. She pursued her lips and, ignoring Teya's questioning look, she moved to where Embry was.

"C'mon, we need to go before you phase right now in the middle of the hallway," Jacob was speaking lowly as he kept his hands on Embry's shoulders. Quil was trying to slowly move Embry further away from their locker whilst Seth Clearwater was trying (and failing) to disperse the crowd.

Ariadne brushed past Jake and made a move to reach out to him but quickly retracted her hand when she heard an animalistic growl tear past his lips.

"We need to leave, Em," Quil urged him to move but Embry remained rooted in his spot.

"If I move, I'll fucking tear his throat out." Ariadne was only able to hear the low growl because she was standing so close to him and she felt a slither of fear at Embry's dark look. Jacob seemed to finally notice her proximity to the shaking Embry and immediately stepped in between them and stared down at her firmly.

"Ari, not now honey -" He gently pushed her away but she didn't say anything and just looked straight at Embry with a look of worry.

She offered Embry a small smile before she shrugged Jake's arm off her shoulder walked off to where Zach was standing, his eyes dancing with mirth.

She stood before him, jaw clenched so tightly she thought her teeth would grind. She was furious. Maybe it wasn't just at him but at the whole situation - it wasn't Embry's fault that his mother got knocked up by a married man. It wasn't Embry's fault that he was a wolf that could easily tear Zach apart. It wasn't Embry's fault that he had a half-brother he didn't know about. Just like it wasn't her fault that her father left her family. Nothing was their fault.

And yet, they suffered the brunt of their parent's mistakes.

"Hey Walker, didn't know you and Call were friends - did you two bond over your daddy issues?" Zach jeered and if she wasn't so furious on Embry's behalf, she might've laughed because they _did_ bond over their daddy issues. Zach laughed loudly and looked like he was going to say something else but before he could, Ariadne drew her fist back and punched him in the nose as hard as she could.

Three things happened immediately following the punch. First, Zach Freeman went flying backwards into the locker behind him, blood pouring down his nose as he swore profusely. Secondly, the crowd around them all simultaneously exploded (Teya was the loudest with ' _what the fuck, Ari?_ ') in yells and cheers. And thirdly - she was pretty sure her knuckles had split open and she tried to ignore the gathering of tears in the back of her eyes (brought about by the pain) because who the hell punched someone then cried?

"Holy shit! Ariadne!" Mason's voice carried the loudest over the collective gasps of all the people surrounding them. The adrenaline in her veins hadn't subsided yet and she quickly grabbed Zach by the collar before her nerve left her.

"Fuck you, Freeman." She hissed venomously as he began cursing at her wildly, clutching his (probably broken) nose. "If you ever say anything like that to Embry again I'll make sure -"

"Whoa! Down wildcat," she felt a warm (but unfamiliar) arm around her middle pull her back and she didn't fight it. In fact, she was sort of glad that they stopped her because she had never really threatened anyone before and she hadn't the slightest clue what she was going to say.

On top of that, her knuckles felt like they were on fire and she could still feel tears stinging the back of her eyes from the pain in her sore hand. She had never punched anyone before and now that she'd experienced the aching in her limb, she was pretty sure she wasn't going to ever do it again.

"Shit, that was a good punch." She finally looked up to see that it was Seth Clearwater that had been the one that had pulled her away. He was grinning broadly as he watched Zach clutch his nose whilst still howling in pain. But when Seth looked down at her, he must've noticed the pained tears in her eyes because his grin immediately dropped and he looked at her in concern.

"Hey, you alright?" He asked her worriedly but she quickly wiped away her damp eyes and tried not to blush in embarrassment.

Her pain tolerance was ridiculously low and she hated it. Thankfully though, her eyes only watered and there were no other tears.

"That was so awesome but what the hell? " Mason was smiling so widely, it looked like his cheek hurt. Ari opened her mouth but she didn't know what she was supposed to say - how was she supposed to explain her anger and her actions? He didn't know Embry like she did. Mason didn't even know about Ezekiel.

She was saved from answering when a familiar shrilly voice sliced through the air like a knife.

"What is going on here? Get to class! All of you!"

Miss Enders had obviously rushed (much too late) to see the commotion and all but shoved everyone out of the way. Her ferocity coupled with the general buzz seemed to scare off the students and with a few more shouts from her, even Mason scampered off (although not before giving Ari a proud pat on the head). Enders looked like she was about to blow a gasket when she saw Ari and the boys still standing around but before she could get out any shrieks, she saw Zach slumped over, blood all over the front of his shirt. She rushed over to him, gasping at the blood and knelt down to help him.

Ariadne took the opportunity to get to Embry who was looking at her with an unreadable look.

"Shit, you're my idol." Before she could even say anything, Quil gave her a lopsided smile and offered her a thumbs up which she supposed was a good thing. She smiled back weakly but turned to Embry and she was thankful that his shaking had stopped. Jacob looked like he wanted to say something to her but he kept quiet.

"Ariadne… you didn't have to do that," Embry finally spoke up and she could hear the faint embarrassment in his tone. "I could've handled t myself…"

She could feel the embarrassment rolling off him like waves and she knew it had a lot to do with all the things he told her the other day. So, she breathed a shaky sigh (the adrenaline was only finally fading) and her lips pulled up into a bright smile.

"You think I did that for free?" She snorted incredulously. "You owe me like… a million donuts."

That seemed to ease the tension instantly. And Embry broke out into a wide grin and grabbed her into a half hug. She was engulfed in his warmth and she felt another arm on her shoulder (Jake's) and her smile widened. She felt great. Wonderful. She had punched Zach Freeman in the face and while it hurt like a bitch, the smile on Embry's face made it worth it.

A laugh escaped her lips and for a moment she forgot about her red knuckles and she forgot about the anger she felt only mere moments ago. She almost even forgot about the fact that she was going to get into _so_ much trouble.

She was given a rude reminder when she heard a roar from Miss Enders who had just got the story from a bleeding Zach.

"Walker! Principal's office! Now!"

xxx

Ariadne's euphoria following her epic (but painful) punch didn't last long as she found herself sitting in yet another after-school detention. Though this time, it was a part of her 'in school suspension' so she was stuck in an old stuffy classroom sitting next to Vincent Oates who drooled whilst under the supervision of Mister Stevens who always forgot what time he was supposed to let students off but would give you more detentions if you tried to remind him.

It was absolute hell and it almost made Ariadne regret ever putting her hands on Zach.

The thing about attacking one of the school's star athletes was that it got you into a _lot_ of shit. Yes, she'd expected punishment but two whole weeks of after-school detention (including Saturday detentions), counselling twice a week for a month (apparently they thought she had anger issues) and a forced apology letter? Bullshit.

Apparently, she was supposed to be really sorry about what she did and they wanted to document her 'apologies' in a letter.

She had been in detention for an hour and hadn't written a damn thing.

She stared down at the blank page in front of her with a ferocious glare, hoping that if she glared hard enough, it'd disappear. She still had another hour of detention (if Stevens didn't forget) to write a letter and she couldn't think of anything to say. What could she say? She certainly wasn't sorry nor did she think he deserved an apology in the first place. She had half the mind to just draw a penis on the page and tell Zach to suck a dick because there was no way she was apologising.

If anything, _he_ should've been apologising to Embry.

Of course, it didn't really matter what she thought because, in the end, she was the one who hit him first. And it wasn't like she was an upstanding student or anything so of course, they were going to side with stupid Freeman. So, with a heavy sigh, Ariadne picked up her pen and began to write.

 _Freeman,_

 _Fuck you._

 _Lots of love,_

 _Ariadne S. Walker_

Half of her wanted to just turn that in but she knew she'd only get into more trouble and she couldn't deal with any more detentions. And as "laid back" as her mother was, she didn't think she'd appreciate it if Ariadne got suspended. So, she ripped out another empty page from her book and tried again.

 _To Zach Freeman,_

 _I'm sorry that you won't be able to play in the next game because of your broken nose. I hope we don't lose because of your absence. Although I doubt we will because you suck anyway. Maybe next time learn how to duck. Or learn how to keep your mouth shut about people's family affairs you shit-for-brains mother -_

She huffed angrily and scribbled out what she'd written and turned the page over. It was impossible to write without getting worked up. She tried to imagine what Principal Michaelson would most like and went to work.

 _Dear Mr Freeman,_

 _My behaviour towards you was uncouth and unacceptable and I cannot stress enough how very sorry I am. It was not at all my intention to hurt you. Not only have I disappointed the school, the football team and the teachers at this fine institution, I have also disappointed myself with the behaviour I exhibited today. I apologise to everyone that I have let down. I also wish to offer my sincerest apologies to your mother who had to go through a nine-month pregnancy and then give birth to the world's biggest asshole. And apologies to your father who probably wishes he used a condom. And apologies to the football team who are forced to spend time with you_

"Mr Stevens!" Before she could continue her 'letter' a sudden knock at the door. She leant forward to see a frantic Mrs Beverly at the door, close to tears.

"Quil A. was working in the art room and he accidentally knocked over the shelves, I think he's hurt!" She looked like she was about to throw up - not that Ariadne blamed her. The art shelves were practically bolted to the ground so if Quil was hurt (she doubted it), it would be a disaster.

"Those shelves weigh a ton -" Stevens was out of his seat with a surprising amount of speed considering his age and quickly followed Mrs Beverly down the hallway.

She wondered what Quil was up to but before she could come up with a theory, she heard her name being yelled out.

"Walker! Open the window!" The voice wasn't that loud but she heard it nonetheless and turned to the window that was right beside her desk.

"Walker!" He called again and with a slightly confused frown, she moved towards the window.

She pulled the blinds back and slid the window up a bit; she immediately recoiled as the sunlight hit her eyes. It was unusually sunny and she could barely see anything except a shadow.

"Walker!" This time, she heard the voice clearly and she recognized it instantly.

"Paul?" The sun was beating down on her and she could only make out a silhouette of a tall figure, standing under the window.

"One and only," he called out and she squinted down at him, catching what looked like a grin.

"What are you doing?" She stuck her head out a bit more and tried to look at him properly but the sun felt like it was burning her eyeballs.

"I saw what you did to Freeman." She didn't remember him being there so she had no idea how he saw it and she worried that maybe someone had recorded it. "Nice shot."

"Not really," she muttered back as she rubbed her sore knuckles. "... What do you want?"

"I'm busting you out, girl." Although she couldn't see it, she could hear the grin in his voice. "Come out! Quil is distracting them!"

"Quil?"

"Yeah, let's go!" He clucked his tongue impatiently and lifted his arm to beckon her down.

"I can't, Stevens will see me!" If he was in the art room, he'd see her walk past since there was only one exit.

"Not if you jump out the window," he replied nonchalantly as if it was a perfectly reasonable solution.

There was a beat of silence.

"Are you on drugs?" She blurted out and she contemplated closing the window and just pretending as if she'd never seen him.

"I'll catch you, obviously." Although she couldn't see, she knew he just rolled his eyes.

"I can't even see you!" She shot back as she lifted a hand to shield the sun. She could only just make out his silhouette but thanks to the sunlight, it was hard for her to even slightly open her eyes without the sunlight forcing them shut again.

"I promise I'll catch you!" He sounded amused and she had a feeling that he was finding her fear entertaining.

"I'm not jumping from a window to get out of detention," she hissed back. "It's like a twenty-foot drop!"

It wasn't a ridiculously high window but it certainly wasn't a height she felt comfortable jumping from, only to land in the awaiting arms of a person who was basically a stranger.

"Trust me, Stevens won't even notice and I doubt you want to spend the next two hours sitting next to Vincent Oates," he snorted in amusement.

"How do you know I'm sitting - actually - " she figured he could probably smell Vincent and as amazed as she was, she still couldn't really wrap her head around the fact that he wanted her to jump out of a two storey building.

"I can catch you!" He was openly laughing and she wanted to bang her head against the window.

"I -" She knew he had the speed and strength to catch her but that didn't make the idea appealing.

"You have two minutes before Stevens gets back," he sounded a little impatient and her gut was telling her to trust him and go with him. The rational side of her brain seemed to be malfunctioning because all she could think of was how much she wanted to go down to him. And she had no idea why.

She deliberated over it only for a few moments - she'd already received a punishment (undeservingly in her opinion) so why not make it worth it? She nibbled on her bottom lip before she quickly went back to her table and shoved her papers back into her bag. She tossed her bag out the window without warning but she didn't hear a crash so she assumed he'd caught it. After sliding the window up as high as it could go, she popped her head out. There was a ledge for her to stand on but she'd have to jump after that. She was grateful that she had decided to wear her old jeans that wouldn't rip and she lifted her leg up and slipped it outside until she felt it touch the ledge. She pushed her weight into it and was about to climb further but she heard Paull call out.

"Okay, swing your other leg over the -"

"I know how to climb out a window!" She snapped back as she glared down in his direction. Her nerves and his condescending tone were making her annoyed and if she wasn't using both hands to grip the window pane, she would've flipped him the bird.

Thanks to being friends with Teya whose parents weren't as laidback as Lori, she had plenty of experience sneaking out of windows. She heard him laugh and she huffed angrily under her breath as she carefully shimmied out of the window so she was standing on the ledge with both feet. She breathed in deeply and slowly twisted her body so she was facing where Paul stood and braved a glance at the ground.

At the sight of the drop, her vision blurred and her stomach was tied in knots.

She guessed that if he _didn't_ catch her, she'd definitely survive but would probably suffer from a few broken bones. She glanced back and saw that Vincent was still drooling all over the table and she figured that suffering from a few broken bones was better than saying in detention for any longer.

"I swear if you don't catch me, I'll kill you." She said it lowly under breath but she knew he heard her perfectly fine. She squeezed her eyes shut, let go of the window pane and leaned down.

She was probably only falling for less than a second but it still was enough time for a thousand different thoughts to shoot through her mind. The loudest being - why the fuck did you just jump from the second-floor window?

Instead of landing splat on the ground like she half expected to, she landed into what felt like a blanket of warmth. Her eyes remained closed and she felt two strong arms holding her up firmly albeit awkwardly. Her nose was buried in the crook of Paul's neck and one of his arms was secured around her middle and the other one under her rear while her arms dangled weirdly at his sides.

"Told you I'd catch you," his voice was low and she was proud to admit that she managed to stop herself from shivering.

Her eyes fluttered open and she tilted her head up to meet his gaze and tell him thank you. As soon as she did, she felt his entire body stiffen under her and she breathed out a shaky breath hoping to snap him out of his frozen stare. It didn't work and he continued to gaze her unblinkingly. His eyes were a dark brown colour that seemed to glow in the sunlight and she (much to her embarrassment) felt a blush rise to her cheeks. Clearing her throat noisily, she tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he tightened his grip.

"Uh… Paul?" When she found her voice she nudged his shoulder causing him to finally blink. She waited for him to put her back on her feet but instead he stared at her again for a moment before he swore under his breath.

"Fucking hell."

He looked pained for a few seconds before he promptly dropped her on her ass.

* * *

 **a/n: whoops sorry this is unedited but i'll edit it later lmao and sorry there isn't THAT much paul but hey he /imprinted/ yikes. thank you everyone for all the reviews, i'm literally blown away by the response and it rly encourages me to write (hence the quick updates lol) but thank you! and hope you liked this chapter - you get to see more of ariadne's family life and relationships and how her upbringing might affect her imprint bond :-) tell me what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

Ariadne let out a groan of pain when her butt slammed into the concrete below her.

"Shit, fuck, sorry - here -" Quicker than her eyes could follow, Paul moved toward her and pulled her up onto her feet. She swayed for a second (the jump and the weird eye contact thing still had her in a daze) and he gripped her shoulder to right her.

"Are you okay?" Unlike all their previous conversations, his playful countenance was nowhere to be found and he was staring down at her with a look of concern. It was _very_ unnerving.

"I'm fine," she waved him off and took a step backward whilst rubbing her sore backside. She looked back up at Paul and saw that his eyes were frantic and he had an expression that made him look like he was about to throw up. "Are _you_ okay?"

"No I'm not, we - we need to get to Sam's house," he was speaking through gritted teeth and his jaw was clenched so tightly she was afraid he'd chip a tooth.

"What?" She couldn't help her surprise as she dodged his hand when he reached out to grab her wrist. "Whoa, slow down there. I'm going home."

While she thankful that he had helped her escape detention, she wasn't eager to follow him to Sam _Uley'_ s house. Her plan was to go home, order some extra cheesy pizza and sleep.

"You can't - okay, I need you to come with me to Sam's - look, I'm -" His frazzled state was causing her to worry and she subtly shuffled back again, keen on creating more space between them.

"What is going on?" She asked weakly as she looked around to see if there was anyone else there to witness the fact that the usual suave and unflappable Paul Lahote was currently a stuttering mess. Granted, she was crazy enough to jump out of a two storey window, but she wasn't crazy enough to spend any longer with the guy who looked like he was three seconds away from either fainting or throwing up on her shoes.

"Fuck, this was not supposed to happen to me," he was muttering more to himself and his previous anxious expression was slowly morphing into one of anger and she saw a shiver run down his back. The shiver was not unlike the one that ran down Embry's back when he looked like he was about to kill Freeman.

"... Paul? Are you okay?" She tried again when she saw his muscles ripple beneath his shirt.

"I thought you weren't the type to ask questions," he muttered darkly and she bit back a startled gasp when she saw that his mood seemed to have worsened over the span of two milliseconds. She usually didn't ask questions but if she felt that her _personal safety_ was at risk then she was bound to ask _some_ questions. She had a strong sense of privacy but her self preservation was stronger.

"I usually don't but when I'm scared, I tend to ask more questions," she repeated her thoughts and that seemed to immediately sober him up. His vibrating slowed down until came to a halt and he immediately looked at her with what she thought was an apologetic expression.

"Don't be scared," he sounded like he was pleading and that did little to soothe her worries. "I promise I won't hurt you."

"Sure," she stretched the word out in uncertainty and her eyes flickered towards the parking lot where her car was usually parked. She scanned the lot and saw that it wasn't there; she panicked for a second before she remembered that she had stupidly allowed Mason to drive her car home so he didn't have to wait for the bus in the scorching heat (it wasn't really that hot but she wasn't used to the warmth).

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you - I don't think I even can - so I need you to do that thing where you pretend to be oblivious to the weird shit around you and just please come with me to Sam's." Paul didn't seem to have noticed that she was distracted and kept talking. "Please come with me. I'll drive you."

Her first instinct was to reject his offer but she bit her bottom lip and tried to gauge the situation. Sure, he was being weird but then again, she didn't know him that well in the first place. Maybe this behaviour was normal for Paul. Or maybe it was a werewolf thing.

"If you want to go home, you can but I'd prefer it if you came with me." His words still sounded forced and she couldn't help but wonder what in the hell had just happened to cause such a change in his behaviour.

Again, she took the time to go over her options. Paul seemed pretty set on taking her back to Sam's house and she figured that it couldn't be that bad. She didn't think Paul would hurt her - he had already promised her and he was friends with Jake and Embry so she didn't think he was secretly a creep. Plus, she _did_ need a lift.

"...Okay," she conceded after mulling over it. "Let's go… but if I change my mind, you have to take me home."

"Great," he ran a hand through his hair and beckoned her to follow. She picked up her bag - which he'd unceremoniously dropped along with her - and slung it over her shoulder. They walked in silence and she mentally asked herself what the hell she was doing. And why did she feel perfectly fine with following some guy to his car? She was so engrossed in her thoughts, she didn't realize that they had arrived in front of his truck.

"Get in," he didn't bother trying to sound polite and she didn't bother calling him out on it. She clambered into his truck and barely had the door closed when he started his car and reversed out of the parking space quick enough for her head to sway. He drove quickly and they were away from the school by the time she even reached for the seatbelt.

As she did, her knuckles brushed against the seat and she winced at the pain.

"What's wrong?" He asked sharply when he saw her flinch. "Are you okay? Do you want me to pull over?"

"Nothing, just … my hand hurts." She hissed in pain as she brushed her fingertips over her bruising knuckles. She inspected them closely again and was just happy that there wasn't any blood. She also hoped that her mother wouldn't notice it although, she was probably already informed by the school about her daughter's… tussle.

"What the hell were you thinking?" She was snapped out of her thoughts as Paul snapped at her, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Huh?"

"What would you have done if he had hit you back?" He asked, eyes blazing. "When you decided to go all Rocky Balboa on Freeman, did you even consider that he'd hit you back? You're the size of his left arm. He would have broken your jaw or - what would you have done?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, her body was working on adrenaline and the last thing on her mind was if he was going to hit her back.

"You don't know?" Paul echoed her words with incredulity. "You didn't think!"

She turned around and gave him a withering glare although he didn't seem to notice since he was focused on the road. She didn't need him to lecture her. And if she remembered correctly, he had been congratulating her on her 'nice shot' before.

"Someone had to do it. Emb -" she has halfway through his name when Paul cut in, again.

"Embry?" Paul growled and his grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"Yeah, you know, Embry Call," she threw back with a small glare.

"I know who he is," he hissed back venomously. "I'm just confused as to why you thought you had to defend him like that."

"Because he's my friend!" She crossed her arms and figured that he was probably the only person in the entire world who could get her so riled up. She was Ariadne Walker - she didn't get fazed by things but being around Paul seemed to intensify every little emotion and she couldn't decide whether she wanted to throttle him or kiss him.

He did strange things to her body.

"Friend," he scoffed and she felt a flare of irritation at his tone.

"It's not like that!" She was getting really tired of telling everyone about the purely platonic relationship she and Embry shared. "We're just close friends. I know you're like really anal about us hanging out or whatever since you bring it up all the time but it's not really any of your business! If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were in love with him or something."

He didn't respond to her comment and instead gripped his steering wheel harder. At his silence, Ariadne whipped her head around, eyes wide.

"Oh my god, _are_ you in love with him?" At that prospect, she felt like a total asshole. And there was also a feeling of deep disappointment that settled in her stomach but she wasn't sure what it was caused by.

"What? No! I just - you're - you sound close to him," he spluttered and she felt that his response didn't really match her question but she didn't pry any further. She was just glad that he was so startled by her question, his anger seemed to have faded.

"Yes… I guess we are," she agreed quietly and looked out the window.

"When we get there - I - I need to figure stuff out - so- just don't freak." He wasn't making any sense to her again but she supposed that it'd be better if she didn't say anything. So she merely nodded.

After his little outburst, the drive didn't last very long and before she knew it, they were parked in front of a quaint house.

"Don't stare," he warned her as she hopped out of the car. She knew who he was talking about but didn't say anything and just nodded - she knew that Emily Young was engaged to Sam Uley and that she was heavily scarred. "C'mon."

She stumbled out of the car but caught herself before Paul could reach out. She trailed after him and felt awkward as he walked in without even bothering to knock. As soon as she walked in, she was met with the smell of freshly baked muffins and the entire house was saturated in the same scent that Embry and the others had. Emily was busy kneading dough and there was another guy that she couldn't see, at the dining table, stuffing his face.

"Paul, shouldn't you be on - oh, hello." Emily paused at the sight of her with a confused face.

"This is Ariadne Walker," Paul introduced her and she allowed her eyes to flicker over Emily's scars for a fraction of a second before she met her eyes.

"Hi," Ariadne mumbled a barely-there greeting and had never felt so awkward in her life. What was she doing here?

"I need to talk to Sam," Paul directed his statement over towards the other hulking guy that was bent over his meal, barely even taking breaks in between bites to breathe.

"He's out … working," Emily replied as she moved around the bench. The other tall guy also looked up and gave Paul a searing look before his eyes flitted to where Ariadne was. There was a tense silence and Ariadne suddenly felt very intrusive and regretted the moment she opened her mouth to accept Paul's weird request.

They were all sharing secretive looks and for a split second Ariadne had half the mind to blurt out that she knew they were werewolves. She quickly squashed the thought as soon as it surfaced and told herself that sooner or later, they would stop hanging around her.

"I'll be back," he pushed her onto a stool at the bench and without even glancing back at her, he was out the door. Ariadne was too outraged at his audacity (he had all but _dragged_ her there and now he was just _abandoning_ her?) to notice that the older woman was speaking to her.

"Oh - sorry, I didn't catch that," Ariadne finally seemed to remember her manners and finally turned to where Emily was introducing herself.

"Sorry about Paul, he's… anyway, I'm Emily," she smiled widely and Ariadne, despite her discomfort, smiled back. "And that over there, is Jared."

"Hey Ari," he called out in between mouthfuls of food and she was a little taken aback by the comfort in which he used her nickname. "What brings you here?

"Uh… I don't know actually," she responded truthfully, watching their expressions carefully. "Paul uh - broke me out of detention and kinda just brought me here."

"He what?" Emily paused in her movements and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, curious and only slightly exasperated (probably at Paul).

"Oh! Ariadne Walker! You're the one who decked Zach Freeman!" Jared's eyes lit up in recognition and he took the time to put his food down and face her properly.

"... Uh, yeah, that was me." She waved awkwardly and wondered just how many people had heard of her little interaction with Freeman.

"Heard you broke his nose," he grinned wolfishly and moved from the dining table to slip into the seat beside her. "I missed it but I'll ask Seth to show it to me later."

At his words, she felt herself blanch.

"Seth? Did someone record it?" She groaned at the idea of someone having videoed her and she hoped that it didn't end up on YouTube or something.

"Uh… no… I… uh, Seth is really good at reenacting stuff," Jared stuttered which made Ariadne think that being a terrible liar must been a requirement if you were a werewolf. She was yet to meet a wolf that could lie well.

"Jared, you shouldn't be egging her on," Emily cut in smoothly as she placed a glass of water in front of Ariadne. "Ari, I'll get some cream for your knuckles, it might help with the bruising."

She didn't wait for a reply from Ariadne and began searching through her cupboards. Ariadne knew that Emily was nice but she didn't think she'd be this nice; it was kind of unsettling.

"Was it awesome?" Jared ignored Emily's scolding and kept his attention on her. Emily returned only a second later with a white cream in her hand. She laid out her palm and Ariadne didn't hesitate in giving her sore hand.

"... not really," she shook her head and answered honestly. She tried not to hiss when she felt Emily softly clean her knuckles before she applied the cream. "To be honest, I cried."

"You cried?" While Emily was polite enough to try and hide her amusement, Jared laughed loud enough for the both of them. Ariadne felt a blush creep onto her cheeks and she wondered why she even shared that tidbit of information with them.

"It hurt," she pouted defensively. If someone had informed her just how much it hurt, she probably would've opted to knee him in the groin instead. "And I have a really low pain tolerance."

Jared's booming laughter filled the kitchen and Ariadne winced at the volume of it. Although Jared and Emily were friendly, she felt something was off and she couldn't help but glance back at the door that Paul had gone through.

"Where is Paul?" She blurted out the question before she could stop herself. She couldn't stop tapping her foot against the floor and she had an anxious feeling in her stomach but she didn't know _why_.

Jared and Emily shared a quick look but it didn't last long.

"He'll be back soon," Emily reassured her and patted her arm soothingly. "Here, do you want to help me bake some muffins?"

Ariadne didn't want to, at all but she was willing to do just about anything to get her mind off of the weird feelings she was experiencing so she slipped off her seat and took the flour from Emily's hands. She had a feeling that Emily knew she wasn't interested in baking since she just made her hold random ingredients until she needed them.

It was okay though, anything to get her mind off Paul.

xxx

Paul felt sick to his stomach. The second he was out of the house he sprinted into the trees, his legs shaking. When he was far enough from the house, that he couldn't smell her scent anymore (honey, vanilla and a touch of coconut) he phased.

 _Paul you're not supposed to take over for another three hours_ Sam felt him shift instantly.

 _I need to talk to you, phase back_ Paul didn't wait for a response and phased back. He pulled his cutoffs on and began to pace the clearing, his mind racing and a thousand thoughts were running through his mind. The main thought that echoed in his head was that he needed to get back to his imprint. He ignored the feeling in his gut that tugged at the thought of her and whirled around when Sam appeared before him, wearing the same thing.

"I imprinted," he didn't wait for Sam to speak and blurted it out before he could control himself.

"I - what?" Sam looked startled by his greeting and blinked in surprise. "When? Who?"

"You said it was supposed to be rare," Paul hissed back, not answering his Alpha's questions.

"I thought it was but - that makes four," Sam's surprise didn't help Paul feel any better and he fought the urge to phase again. "Who is she? Or…"

"Ariadne Walker," he stated simply as he thought back to her. Everything inside him was begging him to go back to her but he kept himself rooted in his spot.

"Oh, Embry's friend?" Sam vaguely recalled the name. "I thought you uh, tolerated her."

Tolerated was a loosely used term. Paul wasn't exactly known for his gentlemanly ways but from Sam remembered from their shared thoughts was that Paul never really treated her … poorly.

"Just because I flirt with her doesn't mean I want to fucking marry her," Paul snapped back, he was bristling and he didn't know if he wanted to run to her or away from her.

"It doesn't have to be like that," Sam gently reminded him. "Where is she?"

"She's with Emily and Jared," he groaned as he tried not to think about how he just dropped her off there like baggage and without warning. He had only imprinted an hour ago and he was already fucking it up.

"This is bullshit!" Paul snarled and without warning, his fist collided with a nearby tree, and there was a distinct crack that followed. "I'm so sick of this. All of this!"

Sam tactfully remained quiet and carefully watched as Paul angrily paced around.

"I thought - I thought that I was drawn to her because I liked her myself but it's the wolf," Paul laughed bitterly. "It's always the fucking wolf."

"Are you going to fight it?" Sam asked him carefully. He knew the panic and the disoriented feeling that came with the imprint and he hoped that Paul wouldn't try and force himself into that predicament.

"No." Paul spat back angrily as his tremors subsided again. "But I'm not going to - I - I need time to get things straight. This is so fucked up."

"It's a two-way bond," Sam didn't want to overwhelm him but he knew that if Paul tried to ignore it, it'd affect her as well.

"Exactly," he bit back with a growl. "She's gonna be forced into this weird voodoo fuckery."

Sam winced at his word choice, no doubt thinking of his oh-so-fucking-great imprint, but he didn't say anything about it.

"You can be a friend," Sam tried to reason. "You need each other in your life but it doesn't have to be romantic."

He hoped his reasoning helped but it didn't seem like Paul was even listening.

Paul didn't want it. Any of it. The patrols exhausted him to the point where he could barely stay awake in school, he hated having the pack stuck in his head and he was doomed to stay on the rez for the rest of his life.

The wolf had taken his life, his freedom and his choice away. And now, when he showed the slightest interest in someone, it made him imprint. Whether she liked it or not, she was going to be stuck with him. Paul Lahote. The guy she met in detention - the guy who would tease Embry endlessly about his 'study partner' - the guy who only helped her get out of trouble after Jake agreed to swap shifts with him.

He had seen her in the pack mind thanks to Jake and Embry and he knew her. She was kind enough to let Embry crash at her place, she was understanding enough to know when not to ask questions and she was playful enough to keep up with his banter.

And now she was _his_.

He remembered the brief but memorable meetings. She was fun and he actually enjoyed their short conversations with her; she was so normal. She made him _feel_ normal. The flirting and the fun, it was just like he was a normal eighteen-year-old. In those moments with her, he forgot that he was a fucking werewolf. She was supposed to be a breath of fresh air when he wanted a break from everything. And now she just yet another reminder that no matter what, he could never escape the monster that lurked beneath his skin.

All because of his stupid fucking curse, she was linked him to for the rest of her life.

The thought caused a growl to tear from his lips and a second later, he exploded in anger and landed on all four paws.

xxx

A distant howl interrupted Ariadne and Jared's game of Go Fish and both of them looked out at the window. Ariadne wondered if it was Paul. Emily had left to run some errands and so it was just Ariadne and Jared, who turned out to be as easygoing as the other boys and she liked his company. Sure, it was under weird circumstances but she was just happy that she wasn't stuck waiting for Paul alone and that Jared didn't try and ask her about why she was there (especially since she didn't know why she was there).

"Paul," Jared mumbled under his breath as he heard the howl but Ariadne pretended not to hear him and stared down at her cards. She felt a prickling sensation under skin, like she had just downed seven cups of coffee but she tried to ignore it and focused on the game.

Thankfully, Jared seemed to remember something and brought her out of her odd trance.

"Oh shit," Jared shot out of his seat and glanced at the clock. "Sorry, but can we call it a tie? I kinda have a study session soon."

"Study session?" Ariadne reached out and collected the cards, glad to call it a draw since she was losing anyways. "You get tutored?"

"No, I tutor someone," he corrected and she peered at him out of the corner of her eye but he seemed to be serious.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, a girl in my class," he grinned widely and moved to grab his textbooks from the coffee table. He dropped them on the dining table with a smile. "Her name's Kim, do you know her?"

"Kim?" Her eyebrows flew up in surprise because there was only one Kim that attended their high school.

"Kim Connweller," he elaborated, the elated smile not leaving his face. "She lives near the school and she has two brothers in middle school. And she drives a green car and -"

"I know who she is," she interrupted quickly before he could go on.

She wasn't confused because the name was unfamiliar. She was confused because Kim Conweller had tutored her and Teya last year for history and could probably recite the textbook in her sleep. Her confusion didn't last long as she quickly became aware of who exactly she was talking to.

"Wait… you're Jared as in Jared _Cameron_ ," she snapped her fingers as she came to the startling realization that this was the guy that Kim had been crushing on since she was in freshman year.

"Has she mentioned me before?" Jared perked up at the thought of Kim talking about him.

"Oh kinda…. she just mentioned that she was being tutored by you," she lied quickly. She hadn't had the chance to speak to Kim since about a month ago when they had run into each other at a diner but she figured that Kim wouldn't appreciate her telling her longtime crush how obsessed she was with him.

"Yeah, she's been coming over for the last three weeks," he had a lovesick smile on his face that made Ariadne briefly wonder if Kim had perhaps drugged him with something. "But she's really quiet and shy around the guys so it'll be good if you're here."

Again, Ariadne had to squash down her shock because Kim was _not_ a meek little introvert like Jared was making her out to be. Sure, she was quiet at first but that was mainly because 96% of what she had to say was sarcastic and the other 4% was a terrible potty mouth that she had picked up from spending an entire year tutoring Teya.

Obviously, being around her crush had caused her to tone down her usual snark by a lot.

"She'll be here soon," he was balancing on the balls of his feet, and she couldn't help but grin at his obvious excitement. "Her car just pulled up."

She didn't hear the car but figured that it was a wolf-hearing thing. In several strides, he left Ariadne at the table and opened the front door probably to meet Kim. Ariadne didn't move from her seat and listened out. She could hear Jared speaking animatedly (a thousand times happier with Kim than he was with Ariadne which was saying a lot) but couldn't hear any of Kim's responses.

At the sound of Kim entering the house, Ariadne felt a smirk appear on her lips. While she was confused and annoyed by Paul's abandonment of her - it was well worth it if she was about to see Kim acting like a little shy schoolgirl.

"Hey, uh, a friend is over!" Jared seemed to finally remember that Ariadne was there.

"Friend?" Kim followed Jared into the room but stopped at the sight of the girl sitting at the table.

"Hi," Ariadne smiled widely and waved.

"Ariadne?" Kim's bewildered expression only lasted a few moments before her face flushed red. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here with Paul but he left and well, now I thought I'd get tutored by Jared as well," she teased and pulled out a seat for Kim. The older girl took it and glared daggers at her.

"You don't even like history," Kim snapped back with a roll of her eyes as she distinctly remembered Ariadne and Teya complaining the entire time she tutored them. Jared seemed to be too excited by Kim's sudden openness to bother cutting in.

"I'm suddenly very interested," she gave Jared a pointed look and Kim looked like she was about to punch Ariadne in the face.

"Shouldn't you be in detention?" She huffed the question out as she pulled her own highlighters out of her bag.

"I escaped," Ariadne didn't further explain but kept the teasing tone in her voice. She couldn't wait to tell Teya about her discovery.

"And you decided to grace us with your presence here?"

"Would you have preferred that I stayed in detention?" She smiling gleefully now and she knew that Kim was about three seconds away from ripping her hair out.

"I would've preferred if you were in a ditch somewhere," Kim's infamous snark seemed to make an appearance and Ariadne heard a snort come from Jared.

"Oh wow, you guys really know each other, huh." Jared finally spoke up and looked between the two with amusement.

Kim seemed to realize that he was there too and like clockwork, her face bloomed red. It was moments like this that Ariadne was thankful that her blush didn't show easily.

"Oh, we go way back, right K.C?" she couldn't help herself and immediately called her by the nickname Teya had come up with. The nickname was created during a tutoring session at her place when they accidentally stumbled across one of her old history books and found a page decorated with scribbles of 'Kimberly Cameron'.

"K.C?" Jared looked eager at learning more about Kim but he was swiftly cut off by Kim noisily clearing her throat.

"It's just my initials, Kim Conweller," Kim cut in hastily as she subtly reached over to pinch Ariadne's thigh. Before Ariadne had any time to throw in another thinly-veiled joke, they heard the door open and a few seconds later, Paul was standing at the doorway.

He wasn't wearing a shirt and he looked filthy, as if he'd spent the last half hour rolling around in the dirt. She mused that he probably had done exactly that. The jittery feeling that had her stomach twisting disappeared and she felt a rush of happiness when she saw him.

The positive feelings went away as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Ariadne, let's go." He didn't bother with any pleasantries and barely even spared Kim a second glance. "I'll take you home."

His demanding tone didn't sit well with Ariadne and if it were any other time, she would've point blank refused but she had a feeling that she probably should let it go this time.

"Aw, let her stay," Jared looked put out when Paul announced they were leaving. Kim seemed infinitely more comfortable around her than anyone else and so he wanted her to stay.

"Ariadne, I'm taking you home," his tone was gruff and he gave Jared a sharp look. Jared didn't look happy with her leaving but didn't say anything else.

"It was nice meeting you, Jared," she smiled at him. "And thank Emily for me. See ya, K.C"

Jared waved back while Kim just glowered at her. She giggled to herself at Kim's reaction and gave her a friend a wink which was not returned. As she followed Paul, she caught sight of two huge figures walking through the front door.

"Jake! Embry!" She called out happily and stepped around Paul to rush to them. Both of them turned to her in surprise and met her halfway. Jake reached her first and pulled her into his usual bear hugs - she thought she heard a snarl from behind her but she didn't dwell on it and eagerly returned his warm hug.

"Ari? Oh, I told Paul to drop you off home after the rescue," Jake looked confused to see her there, as he set her down, but smiled at her nonetheless.

"He brought me here," she explained, hoping that they'd at least explain something to her.

"Why?" Embry tilted his head and she realized that he was probably as lost as she was.

"Because I had to," Paul cut in with a low rumble and Embry's grin faded and suddenly, he looked even angrier than he did before. Jake looked taken aback as well and instinctively gripped Embry's shoulder.

"Did you -?" Embry turned to Paul and looked like he was about to throw a punch. "Tell me you didn't. Not her."

"Get out before you do something stupid, Call." The way Paul spoke to Embry made it sound like they weren't friends and Ariadne felt tiny as she stood between the two of them. She knew they were much larger than her but for the first time, she felt small around them and she didn't like the feeling at all.

"Tell me!" Embry demanded loudly, causing Ariadne to flinch and Jared was out of his seat, in front of Kim before anyone could say another word.

"Fuck you, I don't have to tell you shit," Paul snarled back angrily and he began to mirror Embry's shaking. "It's my business."

"Em, c'mon," Jake, again, was playing pacifist as he tried to pull Ariadne behind him. "Both of you calm down. Ari, come here."

Paul growled when Jake moved Ariadne but he didn't move to take her back.

"Why did it have to be you?" Embry fumed, his entire frame was shaking so badly, Jake pulled Ariadne even further away from them.

"Would you rather it was you?" Paul sneered back, his jaw set as he stared him down.

"It shouldn't have been any of us," Embry hissed back.

"Well, it's me so fucking deal with it," Paul shoved him back and Embry stumbled back with a snarl. He looked like he was about to possibly hit him back but Ariadne felt the urge to speak up so she did.

"... Embry?" Ariadne met his eyes and saw they were swimming with anger. He didn't say anything else and just burst through the front door. Jake offered an apologetic smile before he chased after him.

"Ariadne, let's go." Paul made a grab for her arm but she evaded his hands and just stared off at Embry. She didn't know what was happening but she knew that she had deeply upset Embry and it made her feel queasy. The bad feeling was only worsened when she noticed that Paul seemed to be equally mad.

"Let's go." Paul demanded again and she just nodded, moving before he had the chance to try and grab her again.

She followed him to his car and quietly stepped into his truck. She only lived around fifteen minutes away from Sam Uley's house (everyone lived close to each other on the Rez) but the drive was traveled in silence and so the time felt stretched. The only talking done was when she directed him to her place but she had the weirdest feeling that he already knew where her house was.

He stopped in front of her house and kept the car running. She didn't know what to do and the air was tense but she didn't know why.

"Well… bye." She just wanted to leave.

Before she could open the door and leave, he leant over and stopped her.

"Hey… look, I'm sorry about acting like a jerk."His tone sounded sincere but there was something else in his tone that she couldn't decipher.

"It's okay - well, it's not okay actually but I can tell some serious shit is going on so I'll let it slide this time," she told him. She reached for the handle again but he reached out again and stopped her.

"Really, I'm sorry," he apologised again and she felt her shoulders unfreeze. "I… I'll even apologise to Embry."

"Okay," the weird feeling she had in her gut had eased a bit and she calmed down a little. He seemed to notice the shift in her emotions and relaxed as well. "Good."

There was a silence but she didn't try and leave.

"Look, you don't ask questions even when weird shit happens around you, right?" He kept his warm hand on the crook of her elbow and she finally turned to him and replied.

"Right," she nodded even though she wanted to protest that statement. Sure, she minded her own business but that didn't mean she was going to be completely passive to everything that happened to her.

"So, I'm going to be as upfront with you as I can," he decided and let go of her. He turned his body so he was looking at her directly.

"Sure," she nodded again, wanting him to continue.

"I want to be close with you," he declared boldly. If he was embarrassed by his announcement, he didn't show it and he just stared at her, awaiting a response. Her own mind had gone blank so she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Like a friend?"

"Not good enough." He shook his head and looked annoyed that she even suggested such a thing. "More than just friends."

"...Best friends?" She tried again, still unsure of his odd mood swings.

There was a silence as he watched her intently. She wished that they had this conversation outside of the car, so she didn't have to feel the heat that his body was radiating It made her body feel warm and she couldn't help but fidget.

"I - fine, yeah okay. Best friends." He accepted after what felt like an hour long silence. "We're best friends."

He said it as if it was done and dusted. As if just by saying it, it was true.

"You can't just be my best friend because you want to be," she protested his attempt at being her 'best friend'. All previous feelings of annoyance seemed to slide away and she felt comfortable again.

"Why not?" He sounded like a child and she was surprised that he didn't stomp his foot as well.

"Well for starters, I already have a best friend," she pointed towards Teya's house. "And being best friends isn't just a title that you get - it takes time and… you earn it."

"What, is there like a form I need to fill out or some shit?" He snorted and crossed his arms, unimpressed with reasoning.

"You can work your way up or something," she waved her hands around as she tried to word her thoughts. He couldn't just _be_ her best friend if he wanted to be. It didn't work like that. He didn't even _know_ her.

"Work my way up?" Paul repeated incredulously. "Is it supposed to be an honour to be your friend?"

"I even have a friend chart," she folded her leg over her other one, glad that his truck was big enough for her to pull her legs up.

"Where do I stand right now on the friend chart?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow. His tone was casual but she knew that he was also genuinely curious. So, she told him.

"You tend fluctuate," she told him sagely. "You started out as 'cool guy from detention' but then you were sorta an asshole on the phone so you went down to 'jerk on the phone' then you bought me donuts so you went up to 'cute guy I flirt with'. Then you hit an all time high when you saved me from detention and we were almost friends. Then you went all psycho on me and dropped really low to 'creep' but now that you're cool again, you're somewhere between 'guy I flirt with' and 'friend'."

"You're so fucking weird," he breathed out and shook his head.

"You just dropped down to 'asshole'," she informed him promptly. She didn't like how he ordered her around and she certainly didn't like his rapid mood swings so she decided she was going to fuck with him.

"Where does Embry stand?" He seemed to be obsessed with her friendship with Embry and she wondered if was lying when he said he wasn't in love with him.

"Higher than friend but lower than best friend," she shrugged. Embry tended to move along the mental chart as well but he didn't fluctuate. He just kept going higher. As did Jake.

"What's at the top of this chart?" He straightened his back, his curiosity peaked.

"The ultimate 'friend'." She actually didn't know. The chart was just something she created in her head when she was trying to figure why she felt so drawn to Jake and Embry (and now that she had met Jared, him as well) so it wasn't like she sat down and wrote it out. She was partially making it up as she went.

"What does the 'ultimate friend' get?" He rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of her stupid chart and so she looked him straight in the eyes.

"My virginity."

He moved so quickly, he accidentally slammed his hand into his dashboard and Ariadne was polite enough not to point out the dent he made.

"What - your? I - but - isn't - ," He was choking on his words and something far in the back of her mind told Ariadne that she probably should've been sympathetic. But a stronger part of her thoughts were reveling in the excitement of successfully messing with Paul.

"Teya is currently in the lead," she told him with a nonchalant shrug. "She's like ten donuts away from securing the win."

He gaped at her openly for a few moments and she wished she had a camera on her. His surprise however didn't last very long and unlike Embry, he caught onto her teasing tone quickly and she shot her a dirty look.

"Are you fucking with me?"

"Yeah," she broke out into a laugh which was only intensified when she heard him swear under his breath. "Anyway, I need to go make dinner for my brother. Thanks for getting me out of detention."

"...Yeah," he nodded dumbly, still a little taken aback by her previous joke. She finally opened the door and jumped out, her bag in hand.

"Bye, _friend_." She emphasised on his new title and didn't miss the smile that spread across his lips when she said it. When she reached the end of her driveway, she turned to him and waved again. He was still waiting and the smile on his lips seemed to grow.

Paul Lahote was definitely a bit of a moody weirdo but she supposed that his pretty smile made up for it.

* * *

 **a/n: okay the real chapter 5 lol sozzles to all those who got triggered by the fact that the last update wasn't ~real~ lmao. Anyway, for those who missed my last update - i was just telling everyone that i made a tumblr dedicated to my fics including this one so if you're interested, check it out (lilithdancer . tumblr. com). So, that's paul's feelings about imprinting so far - don't judge him too harshly, he's confused and angry but the usual snarky and playful paul will make his return next chapter!**

 **Also - before anyone assumes, there'll be NO love triangles in this :-)**

 **And this is kinda of an au bc it deviates from the original timeline (ish) i won't go into details bc sPOILERS but yeah. The ages in this are a little different too so - paul, jared, kim (18). Ari, teya, embry, jake, quil + unintroduced OC (17). Seth + unintroduced OC (16). Mason, Colin and Brady (15)**


	6. Chapter 6

As if Mondays weren't already bad enough, Ariadne was rudely awoken before the sun had even fully risen by the sound of someone stomping around her room.

"Holy crap, your room is a mess." The voice was familiar but Ariadne was too focused on trying to hold onto sleep to try and pinpoint who it belonged to.

"Ariadne Walker!"

Ariadne groaned and brought her hand up to rub her bleary eyes as she tried to adjust her eyes to the light. After a few blinks, she realized that it was Kim who was stamping around the room like a madwoman.

"Kim? What are you doing here?" Ariadne asked from under her comforter. While she and Kim had sort of grown up together (and Lori forced Ariadne to get tutored by Kim who was a huge geek), they hadn't really spent a lot of time together after Kim entered her senior year and became busier. Kim was on the honor roll and did pretty much every single extracurricular activity that the school had to offer while Ariadne wasn't as … academically dedicated. Needless to say, the two didn't cross paths very often anymore.

And yet, there Kim was, standing at the foot of her bed as if it was a perfectly normal occurrence.

"Get up and make me some bacon," Kim demanded as she tugged on her foot so that it hung off the edge of her bed.

"Huh?" Ariadne wasn't a morning person so her thoughts were all over the place as she tried to snuggle deeper into her bed. Her warmth didn't last long and she felt her blankets get ripped away from her body.

"C'mon, make me some breakfast!" She pulled on Ariadne's foot again with a surprising amount of strength and half of her body slid off the end of her bed.

"Oh my god, Kim. What do you want?" Ariadne scrambled to get back onto her bed but Kim didn't release her grip on her ankle.

"I want food," she shrilled loudly. "I miss your breakfasts!"

When Kim used to visit, Ariadne was in charge of making breakfast since cooking was the only thing she was better at than Kim and Teya could probably burn water.

"What's the time? And _why_ are you here? _How_ are you here?" Ariadne wanted nothing more than to throw her lamp at Kim's head for waking her up but her arm felt like lead so she settled for giving her the stink eye.

"It's 6:02 and Lori let me in before she left," she replied with a cheesy grin as if it was acceptable for her to be galloping around so early in the morning. Ariadne turned her head to face the window and saw that the sun hadn't even risen and it was still quite dark outside.

"Kim, _what the fuck_?"

"The yearbook committee has a meeting at seven so I needed to be up early today," Kim continued, seemingly unbothered by Ariadne's growing anger at being awoken.

"So why the hell did you come here? I'm not on the stupid yearbook committee!" Ariadne growled as she flopped back onto the comforts of her bed. But when she tried to squeeze her eyes shut to put herself back to sleep, she was annoyed to find that she couldn't get herself to keep her eyes closed.

She was officially wide awake.

"... screw you," she sat up from her bed and mustered up the meanest glare she could. As she clumsily rolled off the bed and onto her feet, she caught sight of something peculiar in the corner of her eye. "Kim, did you fold my laundry?"

Kim didn't give her an answer and just made her way downstairs while Ariadne muttered expletives that would've made a sailor blush. She grumpily shoved on a random hoodie that was lying under her bed and stomped downstairs into the kitchen. Kim had made herself comfortable by the bench and had already taken out bacon, eggs and pancake mix.

While she semi-wanted to kick Kim out of her house, she _did_ admit that she sorta missed the older girl. So, she wordlessly turned the oven on and started to cook. She knew that there was another reason Kim had come but she figured that she'd let her know soon.

She was halfway through the egg carton when she heard the kitchen door opened. The girls turned around to the newcomer in surprise.

"Teya?" Ariadne was beginning to wonder if the two girls had somehow planned this. "What are you doing here? And how did you get in, I thought you lost your spare key?"

"The door was already unlocked and I saw Kim's car parked out the front and I wanted to say hello," she replied smoothly as she took the glass of juice out of Ariadne's hand and sipped on it.

"No you didn't, you wanted to come and tease me," Kim huffed, knowing already that Ariadne had informed Teya all about her 'tutoring sessions' with Jared. Teya guffawed loudly and pushed herself onto the bench, legs swinging like a child.

"You know me so well," she tapped Kim's nose as the older girl squeezed past so she could grab a bag of bread.

"As if I could forget what assholes you two both are," Kim grumbled in response as she made leaned popped some bread into the toaster.

"I'm surprised you're even up," Ariadne raised an eyebrow at Teya who was even less of a morning person than she was.

"Oh, mum and Marco were so loud getting up this morning - I woke up too," she shrugged easily and picked an apple from the fruit basket beside her.

"They're up early too," Ariadne commented, Teya's mother, Patricia, worked at the bakery which didn't open until 9 and Teya's stepfather, Marco, worked night shifts as well.

"They're driving up to the airport to pick up Enzo," Teya shrugged as she bit into her apple with a loud crunch.

"Ooh, your hot stepbrother is back?" Kim's interest piqued at the return of the stunningly gorgeous Lorenzo Russo. And Ariadne found herself listening in as well - she always found Teya's stepbrother cute.

"He's taking a break from school and decided to stay here for a while," Teya seemed uninterested in the point of conversation and Ariadne supposed it was probably because Enzo was the only guy she couldn't date (well, she technically _could_ but it'd be gross and super weird). Teya's mother had remarried Marco three years ago and when he moved in with her, he came along with Lorenzo.

Lorenzo was a senior when Ariadne and Teya were freshmen and he was the talk of the town. It was difficult not to be; he was a tall dark haired, green-eyed Italian that was super sweet and used to practice soccer shirtless. Even Ariadne crushed on him at one point but then he went off to college and they barely saw him unless he came for his occasional visits.

But before Ariadne could pry more into Enzo's return (and ask if he had a girlfriend), the kitchen door swung open to reveal her younger brother who was (to her disgust) only wearing a pair of basketball shorts.

He looked taken aback at the sight of guests (especially so early in the morning) but quickly shook it off and sent them both a lazy grin.

"Hey, it's my two favourite girls in the world," Mason walked into the kitchen, looking tired from staying up playing video games but lured in by the smell of food. "And you're here too, Ariadne!"

"Idiot," Ariadne rolled her eyes at her brother's greeting but there was a fond smile on her lips. "How are you even awake right now?"

"You know that I can't resist your bacon," he hummed and yanked on her messy braid. She slapped his hand but still moved out of the way so he could to the fridge.

"My favourite Walker sibling!" Teya giggled happily when he playfully poked her sides as he brushed past her.

"Hey Mason, looking good," Kim grinned at the tall boy when he leant down and pecked her cheek when he walked past her.

"Haven't seen you in a while, Kimmy," he called out as he bent down and rummaged through the fridge. "What brings you here?

"Boy troubles," she sighed dramatically and tapped her perfectly manicured hands against the wooden table.

"You woke me up because of boy troubles?"

"I woke you up to make me breakfast," Kim corrected her, mouth watering at the smell of the sizzling bacon that filled the room. "And to also let you know that your room is a complete mess. I'd be happy to help you clean it."

Ariadne scoffed at Kim but still plated her some bacon and eggs along with her toast she'd already made. While she was a little surprised by Kim's sudden appearance, she fit in so seamlessly it was as if they never stopped hanging out at all.

While Ariadne was thinking about how simple their reunion was, Teya took the tongs out of her hand and piled her own food. She stacked a whole bunch of eggs onto her plate and doubled her portions of bacon.

"What? I have a test today - I'm stress eating," she said defensively when Ariadne gave a pointed look at her overflowing plate.

"Since when did you care about tests?" Ariadne snorted as she took a seat across from Kim at their small dining table.

Her question spurred Teya into going into a long-winded explanation about how this year she was going 'really focus on her studies' and she'd be a 'straight A bitch'. Like she usually did whenever Teya went on her long rants about herself, Ariadne zoned out and was about to tell Teya to just eat the rest of her food before it went cold, when Kim suddenly spoke up.

"I want to tell Jared that I like him but at the same time I don't because I don't think he'll like me back and I think if he rejects me I may curl up into a ball and cry."

There was a brief silence as they all watched Kim who had just said all that in one breath.

"Mason, take your food and get out," Ariadne ordered swiftly and even Teya had managed to stop eating (she was practically inhaling her food) and looked at Kim in surprise.

"What? Why? I want to hear about the boy troubles," he whined, looking at Kim who had returned to eating her breakfast as if she hadn't just confessed her inner thoughts.

"Out." Ariadne pulled him by the back of the collar and after a few expletives, he got out of his seat and stalked out of the kitchen with his plate of food. When he was out of earshot and grumbling in the living room about there being 'not enough men in the house', Ariadne turned to Kim with an expectant look.

She sighed heavily before she spoke up.

"I'm pretty sure only hanging out with me because he thinks I'm this shy girl who blushes every time he blinks," Kim sighed as she chewed on her breakfast. "I'm a fraud."

"Fraud? Jeez Kim, you're not committing a felony by being shy around your crush," Teya laughed as she munched on her food. "My advice is to not bother with any words. Just kiss him!

"That's easy for you to say, girls like me can't just kiss whoever they want," she glared her plate.

Ariadne and Teya shared a look when they heard her reply. She had forgotten that underneath the brassy and control-freak Kim was little miss insecure who thought she had to be the best at everything to make up for anything she lacked in.

"You can kiss whoever you want to kiss," Teya asserted with a dismissive wave.

"That's only thing girls like you say," Kim snapped back, not liking Teya's casual approach.

"What do you mean girls like me?" One of Teya's perfectly shaped eyebrows arched up at Kim's waspish response.

"I'm saying that you're pretty, no need to fish for compliments," Kim shot back scathingly. Her insecurities always made her snappy but Teya was unbothered and brushed off her little jab.

"I know I'm pretty," Teya narrowed her eyes. "What I don't understand is why you think _you're_ not amazing."

"Because I'm not," Kim replied with a roll of her eyes. "I'm average at best and even if I was slightly prettier than I think I am, Jared is still way out of my league."

"Mason!" Teya called out loudly. "Would you date Kim?"

"In a heartbeat!" He responded from the living room despite not knowing the context of their conversation.

"And on top of my plain looks," Kim kept going as if she hadn't been interrupted at all. "I'm a control freak and I'm not even cool and I like organising things and I'm -"

"Kim, shut up," Ariadne grumbled and went to kick her under the table but missed and ended up jabbing her toe onto the table leg, causing her to hiss out in pain. "You're awesome and if Jared doesn't like you for the dictator that you are, that's his own loss."

"But -"

"Did you really come here expecting us to agree with your little 'oh, Jared Cameron is so out of my league' spiel?" Ariadne lectured with a look of disbelief. "You're Kim Connweller. You're the only person I know that can name all the capitals of however many countries there are -"

"There are 197," she mumbled but Ariadne carried on.

"And you're like in every single club our school has and you once made Ingrid Prince cry just by glaring at her after she stole my crayon set in fourth grade," Ariadne reminded her. "What I'm saying is that you're really fucking cool and if Jared can't see that then he's a dumbass and you shouldn't waste your time."

She glanced up at Teya who mouthed 'nice', and when they looked at Kim, she had settled back in her seat with a flushed but pleased face.

"...I'm scared I'm a bad kisser!" Kim finally broke the silence and rubbed her face in annoyance.

"You didn't think you were a bad kisser when you kissed Mike Newton," Teya muttered under her breath and both Ariadne and Kim rolled their eyes at her quip. Kim had even ripped off a bit of her toast and pegged it at Teya's head.

"Will you ever get over that?" Kim clucked her tongue at Teya's stupid grudge. Two years ago at one of the infamous bonfire parties, there were a bunch of Forks kids who had come, one of them being Mike Newton, a guy that Teya had gone on a single date with and semi-liked. During a childish game of spin the bottle, Kim, unaware of Teya's crush, kissed Mike Newton (for a total of three seconds) and Teya never let her forget about it.

"I never forget," she reminded them solemnly.

"Ariadne kissed him as well and you never bring it up with her," Kim countered as she pointed her fork over at the raven haired girl who merely shrugged.

"Well, she was drunk. And she kissed everyone that night so it's not something I hold against her," Teya threw Ariadne a wink but she didn't respond and just took a bite of her toast. It was true. It had been her first ever bonfire party and she had been a bit overzealous with her alcohol consumption (to be fair, she didn't know what she drinking) and ended up kissing pretty much everyone who played - including Kim and Teya.

It was certainly a memorable night (for Kim and Teya at least, since Ariadne didn't really remember any of it).

"Your logic is so warped," Kim grunted and stabbed her bacon moodily when she realised that they were going to gang up on her.

" _Anyway_ , back to this Jared problem," Ariadne started but was interrupted by the sound of Kim's phone alarm going off. Kim glanced down at her phone and frowned.

"Shit, gotta go," she stood up with a surprising amount of grace. "Thanks for breakfast, Ari."

"Wait -"

"Hey, K.C, can I get a ride with you?" Teya stood up as well, shoving the last of her food into her mouth. "I've got to hand in a reflection for Piers. God, he's driving me up the fucking wall."

Kim nodded without saying anything and in less than five minutes, they were halfway out the door. Ariadne tried to call out to them - annoyed that they'd just barged into her house, ate her food then left without even saying a proper goodbye - but they just shouted out a farewell and left before she could say anything else. She heard them chattering away as they left and when the car pulled out of the driveway, she sighed deeply and mentally cursed Kim for what felt like the fifth time for waking her up at such an ungodly hour.

She contemplated going back upstairs and trying to sleep for a little bit longer when there was a knock at her front door. Figuring that it was one of the girls, probably having forgotten something, she took her sweet time getting the door. But to her surprise, it was someone completely unexpected.

"Seth?" A wave of genuine shock passed over her at the sight of the tall boy and wondered what it was about today that had everyone coming over.

"Hi Ariadne," Seth Clearwater grinned his signature smile and against her will, Ariadne felt her cheeks grow warm.

She hadn't really seen much of him since the day she'd punched Zach and even then, she hadn't said a single word to him. He and Mason used to hang out quite often (thanks to Lori and Sue being friends) but after he grew several inches and muscles, their hangouts became less frequent. Ariadne took the opportunity to have a better look at him. The last time he'd been over, he was only about fourteen and four inches shy of six foot. Now he towered over her and the heat that came from his body made her forget about the icy chill outside.

As she looked, she tried to pinpoint who he looked most similar to. He looked like a mix of the other wolves and she couldn't put her finger on who he resembled the most. His warm brown eyes were similar to Jake's, his smile was like Embry's and his sharp jawline reminded her of Paul.

She decided she liked his jawline the most. She wondered if this was what Paul looked when he was sixteen - she didn't really remembered.

"Ariadne?"

"Oh, sorry," she shook herself free of her curious thoughts and shot him a small grin, "So, what brings you here? Mason's gone back to sleep so…"

"I actually came to drop this off," he raised his left arm and she saw a familiar black handbag in his hand. "Lori left it in my mum's car last night when she dropped her off."

"Oh… thank you," she took the handbag and tried not to let her confusion show. She wasn't sure why Seth had come

"So, are you okay?" He prodded with an inquisitive look in his eye. His lips were turned up into a charming half-smile and Ariadne almost blushed as she realised that the 'baby Clearwater' wasn't really a kid anymore and she couldn't really blame Teya for thinking he was older. He seemed to notice her dazed smile and his curious smile, turned into a smug one.

"Ariadne?" He tried again, grin growing more smug by the second. She forgot how good looking he was and had to remind herself that he was the same age as her little brother.

"Sorry?" She returned, still a little stunned by her sudden awareness of his attractiveness.

"I mean I just wanted to see if you were okay," he eyed her carefully, his broad grin never leaving his face. "With the whole imp - uh, ahem, impressive schedule you have for Junior year. Just making sure the stress doesn't eat you up."

That was all it took for her to snap out of her 'Seth-induced' daze.

He was lying. It wasn't a terrible lie - since Seth _was_ the kind of kid who'd go around checking up on people to see if they were handling everything okay - but it was a lie nonetheless. She didn't know when she'd become so good at picking out lies (probably around the time she realized that her father had been lying to her for a long time) but it was times like this that she was thankful for the skill.

"I'm feeling great," she responded slowly, narrowing her eyes just the slightest. He seemed to notice her change and ran a hand through his black hair. If he had done that moments ago, she probably would've internally swooned but instead, she stared at him.

"And you're going to school today?" He asked, looking a lot less smug.

"Yep," she affirmed with a nod and felt her suspicion grow.

"Cool," he smiled again. "That's great."

He kept standing there and she noticed that he was subtly sniffing her. She was used to it now since Embry and Jake would do it nearly all the time, every time they were with her - she didn't even know if the noticed that they did it. Last time Jake had sniffed her and told her to ice her leg before it bruised (she had tripped over) but she hadn't listened and the next day, there was a shiny bruise on her shin.

"Seth, is there another reason you're here?" She decided to just ask - it was her right to know why he was standing at her door at seven in the morning, lying to her while _sniffing_ her.

There was a nagging voice in the back of her mind that was telling her he was checking up on her for the sake of another person. And she was willing to bet that that person was Paul. She was still very uncertain about what exactly went down when she'd seen him last but her instincts were telling her that he was interested in her in some way and in all honesty, the feeling was sorta mutual.

"Just came here to say hello," he said for nth time and placed his hands in his back pockets. She half expected him to start whistling.

"So no one sent you here?"

"Of course not!"

She continued to stare at him but he met her gaze unflinchingly. She was certain that he knew that she knew he was lying but he also knew she wasn't going to call him out on it. And while she was confused and only a little annoyed (because it was difficult to be annoyed at Seth Clearwater), she shrugged it off and decided that if he wasn't going to tell her, then she was fine with that.

"Seth, you're adorable," she settled on that and gave him a coy smile. "You hungry?"

"I'm starving," he sniffed the air and she swore his mouth watered.

"Why don't you come in and have some breakfast? There are lots of leftovers," she stepped aside and let him in and he entered without any hesitation, the scent of food pulling him in. She shrugged to herself and figured that if he was going to lie to her, she'd at least have her own fun by ogling him.

xxx

"She hates me," Jared moaned as he slammed his head on their lunch table. Paul caught his can of coke before it fell off from the shock of Jared's forehead.

"Who hates you?" Quil managed to ask in between huge mouthfuls of food.

"Kim," he groaned, not lifting his head up.

"I thought you two were hitting it off," Embry broke in with a curious gaze.

"I've asked her to sit with me five times and she's rejected me every single time and she's so quiet around me!" Jared was speaking under his breath but the table could hear him clearly. "You should've seen her with Ari, she's a firecracker but with me, she doesn't even talk - ugh - it's driving me insane."

"That bites," Quil whistled although he didn't seem all that invested in the conversation and was more interested in seeing how many fries he could fit into his mouth before he choked.

"What about you and your imprint?" Jared finally lifted his head up and gave Paul a pathetic look.

"We're… friends," he let on, still a little uncertain about where they stood.

He was trying not to come off strongly. He thought that Jared was too much and didn't want to scare Ariadne off like Jared was with Kim - though, it probably took a lot more to scare his imprint. He wanted to know everything about her, from her likes and dislikes to her deepest fears. He probably could've just asked Embry but his pride didn't let him and so he sent the next best thing - Seth Clearwater.

Seth was hands down the most likable of the pack (it'd probably be Jake if he wasn't so obsessed with the leech lover) and he already knew Ariadne. So, Paul sent him over to check on her and to ensure that she wasn't too shaken up considering his unpredictable mood the other day. He expected Seth to return with several pages worth of information but the only thing he could tell Paul when he came back was 'Ari cooks a great breakfast and is really good at picking out lies'.

Needless to say, Seth came to school with a sore shoulder and a still-healing rib cage.

"Can you even be friends with girls?" Quil interjected with a snort.

Before a snarl could escape Paul's lips, a familiar smell invaded his nostrils and he perked up on instinct, his head swivelling around to follow the scent.

Ariadne, Teya Denev and Jared's imprint, Kim, walked into the cafeteria together. Kim looked like she was squashed in between the two best friends who were laughing - they were clearly teasing her and Paul couldn't help but think that his imprint did a lot of teasing.

"I didn't know they were _close_ friends," Jared muttered as he kept his eyes trained on Kim who was red in the face and muttering cuss words like a sailor. Jared had mentioned that Kim was different around Ariadne but Paul didn't think she'd be _that_ different.

"Ari told me they used to hang out a lot when they used to hang out a lot before Kim became a senior," Embry spoke up as he watched the trio sit a table on the other side of the cafeteria. Paul tried not to growl at the younger wolf as he mentioned the information so casually.

Embry didn't like that Paul had imprinted and the older wolf didn't like that Embry had such a close friendship with his imprint. What he disliked, even more, was that Embry bared no romantic feelings towards Ariadne (well, according to his thoughts at least) which meant that his dislike for the imprint was to do with the fact that he didn't think Paul was _worthy_ of imprinting on her.

He agreed, of course, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Ariadne, you're seriously the biggest asshole in this school," Paul was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard Kim grumble. Jared's eyes narrowed at the sound of Kim complaining but he immediately relaxed once he saw the amused grin on his imprint's lips.

"Kim, you came to my house at six in the morning and ate all my food - if anyone is an asshole, it's you." Ariadne poked her tongue out at the older girl and pulled on her tight ponytail.

"You don't seem to mind when Embry Call does it," Kim shot back with a scowl. Paul hated being reminded of that fact and was glad that Embry was now pretending to be focused on his lunch instead of listening in on the girls' conversation.

"Embry Call makes up for it by being 6'3 and having a six pack," this time it was Teya who piped up and Paul felt Embry shift uncomfortably beside him. Paul didn't know why Embry didn't just go for her - Teya Denev was hands down one of the hottest, if not _the,_ hottest girl in school and they'd heard her gush about Embry enough times for them to know for certain that she was interested in the quiet wolf.

"Dude, she's so hot," Quil seemed to be wondering the same thing as he nudged Embry.

"I'm not bringing anyone into this," Embry mumbled back as he took a bite of own food, making a point of not looking up at all.

"Okay, I changed my mind, Teya's the biggest asshole," Kim was still talking and Paul glanced over at Jared who looked bewildered. Paul was feeling the same - this wasn't the same Kim that came over for tutoring - the Kim who came got tutored by Jared was quiet and blushed every time she made eye contact with him.. Paul decided he liked this Kim better.

"You can't call me an asshole - you kissed my ex-boyfriend," Teya shot back as she reached over the table to pluck a french fry off Kim's plate.

"For the last time, he wasn't your boyfriend and it was two years ago," Kim seemed unbothered by Teya's accusation although Jared tensed beside Paul. "And Ariadne kissed him too!"

This time, it was Paul who froze.

"Ariadne kisses everyone," Teya playfully nudged Ariadne's shoulder like they were sharing an inside joke and Paul hoped that he never found out what the joke was because it was already bad enough that he was thinking of hunting down whoever this mystery ex was and he didn't want to make it worse but wiping out a bunch of people who had kissed his imprint.

"What can I say, I'm a serial kisser," his imprint laughed with a carefree shrug.

"Yeah, the only person at this table who doesn't kiss people is you, K.C." Ariadne laughed along with her friend and gave Kim a teasing smile. Again, Jared made a noise somewhere in between a snarl and a groan. Kim wasn't impressed with either of the girl's identical smirks and made a rude gesture and Paul was pretty sure she kicked Teya under the table.

"Ngaw, is wittle Kimmy angry because she can't kiss a boy?" Ariadne gave Kim an impish smile and Paul decided that his imprint was too mischievous for her own good.

"Ariadne, I _will_ stab you with this fork."

Paul also decided that Kim threatened Ariadne too much for her own good.

"Kiss what boy?" Quil didn't bother trying to hide the fact that he was blatantly eavesdropping.

"Probably not me," Jared scrubbed the side of his face furiously, no doubt trying to figure out who Kim was even considering kissing.

"Just kiss him," Teya was still insisting as she continued to shovel food into her mouth. Part of Paul hoped that Teya wasn't so encouraging with Ariadne.

"No - I - what if I'm a bad kisser?" Jared made another noise but Paul was so blindsided by what he heard next, he couldn't say anything.

"From what I remember from the last time we kissed, you weren't bad," Ariadne told her with an encouraging smile and Kim said something in response but Paul couldn't hear over the sound of blood rushing to his ears. An image of the two of them kissing came to his mind and he was torn between being furiously jealous and being incredibly turned on.

"Whoa, what did the fuck did she just say?" Jared choked out as his face turned a brilliant red colour.

"Imprint on imprint action, nice." Quil waggled his eyebrows suggestively but before Paul could reach out to smack him, he heard Ariadne swear and jump out of her seat. He looked up and saw that she had somehow managed to spill her drink all over her sweater. He heard her mutter angrily under her breath before she excused herself to get her jumper she'd left in her locker the other day, to wear.

Without saying anything, he found himself slipping out of his own seat and trailing after her.

He followed her to her locker as he mentally prepared what he was about to say. His last conversation with her included a lot of stuttering and extreme moodiness so his plan was to say something suave and salvage his reputation.

But as soon as he reached her and her scent filled his nostrils, all logical thoughts flew from his head and he said the first thing that came to mind.

"You changed your shampoo," he blurted out as he noticed that her usual coconut smell had been switched out in favour of a strong raspberry scent.

Lucky for him, his imprint was either used to weird greetings or she just really did find genuine amusement in his odd form of greeting.

"Stalker, much?" She shot over her shoulder as she put in the combination to her locker.

"I have a sensitive nose and your hair is practically drowning in it," he instinctively reached out and tugged on one of her long strands. At his action, he noticed a slight red tinge on the tips of her ears and he was glad to see he had an effect on her.

"Mhmm," she gave him an 'I don't believe you' look. "Did you follow me out here to try to see what toothpaste I use as well?"

He knew that she used peppermint but he kept that information to himself and instead tried to go for a different angle. He was growing a little tired of all her teasing and thought it was about time she got a taste of her own medicine.

"Actually I came to ask about Kim," He wasn't _technically_ lying since while it wasn't his main priority he _had_ planned on asking not about Kim on Jared's behalf.

"Kim, huh? Is that why Seth was at my house this morning?" She gave him a playful smirk.

"Kim was at your place, wasn't she?" He only knew because Seth had mentioned that he'd seen her leave the house. "Are you usually this egocentric?"

He slipped his hands into pockets and flashed her a grin, enjoying the way she looked surprised by his admission. She looked a little at loss for words (for once) and he was more than happy that he'd finally managed to catch her off guard.

"Fine, you win," she conceded. "What do you want to know?"

"Is she interested in Jared or not?" He was getting pretty tired of Jared's constant moaning about his imprint; at least his imprint willingly spent time with him (even if it was to get tutored). Paul wasn't so lucky - Ariadne seemed to prefer Embry and Jake's company over his.

"I think the real question is - is Jared interested in her or not?" She switched the question around and shoved her coke-stained sweater into her locker.

"Of course he is!" He had been listening to Jared go on about the girl for the last month and it was getting on his last nerve.

"Kim is… I don't think Jared even knows the real Kim," she snorted as she slipped on a new hoodie over her black shirt.

"He thinks she's great," he reassured her.

"Yeah, she is but does he know why she's so great?" She stressed the question with a raised eyebrow and he wondered if he was about mind-fuck him like girls always did when they gave him that look.

"Because… she's really chill?" He winced as the words left his lips.

"No, she isn't," Ariadne threw her head and laughed aloud. He felt an unfamiliar warmth at the sight of her bright smile. "Kim is a controlling, nerdy little dictator."

"Wait, I thought you guys were friends," he was confused as she pretty much insulted her supposed friend.

"We are," she affirmed quickly. "I mean, she really is all those things but I love her anyway. And well, I don't know if Jared would even like 'the real her'."

"He would," he was adamant and he could tell she wasn't particularly impressed with his reassurances.

"He seems to like the 'shy' Kim," she countered with a raised eyebrow.

"He'll like her regardless," he insisted. He was half talking about Jared and half talking about himself.

"... That doesn't make any sense," she remarked with a hint of skepticism.

"It does," he declared with a confident expression.

"Really?"

"Really."

"For her tenth birthday party, she made us line her presents up in alphabetical order," she deadpanned with a blank face. "She has a planner for every single day and it's colour coded. One time, I beat her in a game of chess and she spent the next month replaying the game over and over again, trying to figure out where she went wrong. She _willingly_ gets up at 6:30 on Sundays to do her homework. She -"

Before she could go on, Paul interrupted her.

"Are you trying to make him dislike her?" He was blindsided by Kim's personality but he was more confused as to why Ariadne was telling him things that didn't paint her friend in the best light.

"No, I'm trying to make sure that he doesn't expect Kim to be one way then bail on her when she turns out to be different,"

"He likes her because she's … her," he was struggling to use the right words and he can tell by the look in her eye that she still wasn't convinced.

"You still don't make any sense," she repeated with a shake of her head.

"It makes sense to him," he spoke with finality and she seemed to accept it.

"Okay," she shrugged and pulled out a drink from her bag. "As long as he doesn't hurt her, I'm happy."

"Enough about Kim, tell me about you," he went on and fell into step with her as the walked down the near-empty hallway.

"Ah, stalker Paul makes his return," she chuckled lightly and ran a hand through her long hair. The scent of raspberries grew stronger and he tried to remind himself that he wasn't some twelve year old kid who got tongue-tied just because a pretty girl smelt nice.

"I'm just curious - as someone trying to be your best friend, I think I have the right to know," he reasoned with her, not letting his eye stray from the amused smile on her pink lips (she was wearing strawberry lip gloss and he was going half insane from the smell).

"Hmm, that's fair. What do you want to know?"

He wanted to know everything.

But he didn't say that and instead asked the first question that came to mind.

"What did you want to be when you were a kid?"

"Original," she snorted but still thought about it. "An astronomist. I've always loved the stars."

An image of a young Ariadne studying the stars sprang to mind and he smiled at the adorable thought. They kept walking and he kept asking her trivial questions and she answered them truthfully. He discovered that she wasn't allergic to anything but told everyone she was allergic to mushrooms because she hated them. She had an embarrassingly low pain tolerance, she broke her arm when she was six after she tried to catch a falling star and if she had to eat one thing for the rest of her life it'd either be fries or cheese pizza.

He didn't even realise the that they had stopped walking until they were standing outside his English classroom.

"You have English now, right?" She asked over her shoulder as she took another sip of her iced tea.

"Who's the real stalker now?" He raised his eyebrows and ignored the way his neck grew warm as she pushed him playfully with an embarrassed smile. Her touch ignited his blood and he was disappointed when she pulled back.

"You're in Kim's class," she defended herself and he could smell the blood rushing to ears - she was flustered. He wondered if she had asked Kim about him . He hoped she did.

"Mhmm," he mimicked her earlier noise of disbelief and saw that it had an immediate effect. "I think the real stalker here is _you_."

He could see the slight crease in her forehead when she was the on the other end of a joke for once and he bit back a smile. Clearly, she only liked it when she was doing the teasing rather than the other way around.

"It's okay," he continued with a teasing shrug. "I don't mind that I have a stalker, as long as it's you."

For the first time since he'd met her, there was a full-fledged blush on her cheeks and she looked flustered. He cocked his head to the side and vowed to make her blush more often; he liked it. Wanting to test the waters a bit, he reached out and gently tapped her cheek with the back of his knuckles and heard the slight intake of breath and he bit back a grin.

"See ya around, Ariadne." He didn't wait for a reply and just brushed past her and walked into the classroom, basking in her scent as he did.

xxx

Ariadne had met a lot of strange of people in the hospital waiting room while waiting for her mother, but the girl sitting on the ground beside her seat, head in her hands while humming an unrecognisable song, was definitely one of the strangest.

She had been sitting there for the last hour and Ariadne finally thought she should say something when the girl randomly hit the wall behind her in annoyance.

"Uh, do you want me to call a doctor?" She asked hesitantly, wondering why no one else seemed to be worried about her.

"Nope," she replied cheerfully. "I'm peachy!"

"Peachy?"

"I'm just thinking," the girl took her head out of her hands and flashed Ariadne an easygoing smile.

"Ok-ay," Ariadne accepted her weird response with a shrug but didn't stop staring at her.

"Just thinking how fucking crappy and weird my life is," she said it with a casual smile as if she was just commenting on the weather. "I'm Red by the way."

"… I'm Ari."

"You probably don't want to hear about my crapfest of a life, do you?" Red wondered aloud, her pretty brown eyes blinking rapidly.

"I've got time," she decided that she was pretty bored and it would probably get her mind off the thoughts that were running through her head (about a particular werewolf).

"Okay, if you're sure - well, I've been exiled to Forks because my mother thinks I'm the devil reincarnated," she explained airily. "She thinks that this place will sort me out because it's a small town and she's watched too many Lifetime movies. And also because I think she wants to date but is worried that I won't like the guy - but I do! He's great except his aura is a little funky."

Ariadne raised an eyebrow at her words - she assumed that by 'devil reincarnated' she meant someone who was very badly behaved but she didn't give the vibe of a juvenile delinquent. She was dressed in an oversized green sweater, black jeans, and brown boots. Her features were soft and as Ariadne looked closer, she realized how very _pretty_ she was.

Her light brown hair was wildly curly but matched her caramel skin well; the slopes of her face elegant and gave her an ethereal vibe. She was all bright eyes and high cheekbones and for a second, Ariadne felt wildly jealous.

"So, I'm _here_ until I can learn how to 'behave myself'," she placed her chin on her palm and sighed unhappily.

"You don't seem like a juvenile delinquent," Ariadne voiced her previous thoughts before she could censor herself.

"I'm not," she sighed again and pushed a curly hair strand behind her ear. "I'm a witch."

And just like that, Ariadne's jealousy vanished.

This girl was _clearly_ on something.

"Shocking, right?" Red laughed humorlessly and played with the charm on her wrist. "Yeah, I found out last year when I accidentally sent my bed on fire."

Red looked at her out of the corner of her eye and Ariadne stared in confusion. Either this girl was on some serious drugs or she was just ridiculously good at lying because Ariadne couldn't see any indications that this girl wasn't telling the truth.

"So, my mother has sent me here in hopes of getting the devil out of me," she continued, seemingly unfazed by Ariadne's odd look. "And I don't really know how to control my powers. I mean my grandmother taught me some things but definitely not enough - my mother sent me here before I could get real control, ya know?"

"Sure," she thought this girl was totally insane but she was pretty to look at so she didn't move from her seat.

"I can't believe I'm stuck here where it's so cold and wet and gross," she wrinkled her nose and Ariadne supposed she wasn't that crazy. Forks was pretty boring and the pale faces were weird.

"There are beaches in La Push," Ariadne offered sympathetically. "If you're ever bored, you should come around."

"I will trust me, this place is the worst. And if that's not bad enough," she continued bitterly, "my full name is Redemption Grace Coleman."

Yikes.

"Mine is Ariadne Walker," she responded automatically - she purposely didn't mention her middle name. It was a secret she'd take with her to the grave. Red gave her an eerie look before she let out a quick burst of laughter

"Ariadne's not too bad," Red hummed in reply after she finished laughing.

"Huh, just by saying that, you've automatically made it onto my friend chart," she supposed that with a name like 'Redemption', she would think her name was nice.

"I doubt you'll still want to be my friend after meeting my Aunt Emma," she added randomly.

"Huh?" Ariadne looked down at her in surprise but Red just jutted her chin over to a young blonde woman who was bustling towards her, a smile on her face.

"Redemption, Dr. Singh will see you now - oh, who's this?" The blond woman approached Red but quickly stopped short when she noticed Ariadne.

"This is Ariadne," she said it in a rush and looked as if she hoped the woman wouldn't say anything else. "Ariadne, this is my aunt -"

"Oh, are you Native American?" Her aunt interrupted before Red could finish and asked with wide eyes as she took in Ariadne's appearance.

"Uh…yeah, l'm half," Ariadne answered after a tiny silence.

"Redemption is a quarter Native!" She clapped excitedly, beaming at the both of them. "It's so great she can meet other Natives - you must be from La Push! Oh, you must be confused as to how I'm related to her since I'm a 'pale-face', that's what you call white people, right?"

"Um…"

"Oh my god," Red looked mortified and Ariadne wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or die of secondhand embarrassment.

"Well, I'm married to her mother's brother - oh, I'm Emma Foster by the way," she finally introduced herself and quickly reached for her hand and shook it. When she glanced at Ariadne's hand, her eyes widened in delight. "Oh! Is that a Quileute bracelet? It's gorgeous! I'd love to buy one off you if you're selling it unless of course, it's traditional then I understand fully -"

Much to Ariadne (and Red's) relief, Emma was cut off by her phone ringing and she muttered a quick apology before she flounced away, pressing her phone against her ear.

" _Well_ , that was terrible," Red muttered as she rubbed her burning cheeks. "I'm sorry about her."

"It's cool," Ariadne shrugged off once her shock faded. "I have a weird aunt too, don't worry about it. So you're quarter Native, huh?"

"Cherokee," she elaborated. "But sorry again about my aunt. She's … yeah. Well, thanks for talking to me but, I better go in to see the doctor."

She awkwardly brushed her hair to the side and stood up to her feet. When she did so, Ariadne finally noticed how _small_ she was. She was taller than Teya and stood at around 5'4 but while Teya was full-figured, Red was petite and she reminded Ariadne of a ballerina or a fairy or something.

"It was nice meeting you too," Ariadne offered her a small grin, oddly feeling a little put out that her somewhat-new friend was leaving. She felt like she'd known her for a while and she was disappointed to see her leave. "I hope you feel better."

"Thanks and if I come around to La Push - I'll look out for you," she gave Ariadne a pretty smile. "And seriously, thanks for listening - it was probably the highlight of my day."

"You must be having a pretty shitty day," she noted with a snort.

"Yeah but meeting someone with an almost equally crappy name made it better," she admitted with a smile.

"I thought you said Ariadne wasn't too bad," she pouted slightly. She didn't think her name was bad enough to be getting flack from someone named 'Redemption' and she couldn't help but think that she, Red and Embry should make some sort of 'terrible name' club.

"Yeah, but your middle name is Sunshine," she snorted and walked off in the opposite direction.

Ariadne froze.

Her face flooded with colour from sheer surprise and utter embarrassment. Making 'Sunshine' her middle name was arguably the worst thing her father had ever done (including the whole walking out on them) (okay, not really but still, it was the worst) and she had ensured that no one had ever discovered it. The only people who knew her middle name were her parents and Kim had been trying to find out her middle name for the last five years and had come up with nothing. Even Teya didn't know it.

But this complete stranger had known it.

Before she could chase after her and demand who she knew that, her mother finally clocked off and met her at the door.

"Sorry, were you waiting long? Who was that you were talking to?" Lori asked with a tired smile.

"A witch, I think," Ariadne answered faintly, still reeling in surprise. Lori gave her a weird look and just rolled her eyes.

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me then don't," Lori rolled her eyes, thinking that Ariadne was just avoiding her question and just made her way to the car.

Ariadne followed her mother to where she had parked her car and tried to wrap her head around what had happened.

As she drove, she barely listened to anything her mother was saying as the weird meeting with the girl who somehow knew her name consumed her thoughts. It could've just been a guess? Or maybe Red had somehow discovered her middle name. Or perhaps, maybe she really was some sort of psychic witch. She had no troubles in believing that numerous students from her school were werewolves so it couldn't be so far of a stretch to believe that witches existed? She planned on going home and telling Teya all about it (although that meant she'd have to tell her her middle name) and researching as much as she could about magic. Unless, of course, she was just overreacting.

Such thoughts followed her all the way home. But once she got there, they left.

All thoughts about whether or not Red was a witch escaped her mind as soon as she and Lori entered their house and saw someone in their living room. The mother and daughter duo froze in the hallway and Ariadne vaguely heard a sharp intake of breath come from her mother.

Sitting on the couch, as if he had never even left in the first place, was her father.

 **a/n: a long author's not but it's pretty important, so please read! (at least the first point is)**

 **first, i have a spin-off thingy where Red is the main character with her own story and her uh… importance to the pack is explored - it'll be posted very soon so you can check my page every once in awhile or you can follow me and you'll get an alert to when I post it. It'll be called "The forbidden fruit".**

 **Secondly, I like side characters tbh so sometimes in chapters, there'll be a lot of side characters in it and their stories - and i especially love writing female friendships so expect a lot of kim and teya - so, in saying that, not every single chapter will be dedicated to paul+ariadne's relationship. Some will have them as individuals bc I want Ariadne to have her own story and own friends and not just to be 'Paul's imprint'**

 **Also, after re-reading this chapter, i've noticed that ariadne is attracted to and flirts with** _ **everyone**_ **lol**

 **Okay sorry for boring you lol, that's all. Tell me what you think! (and also, i'm pretty new to this site - at least, writing on this site so idk if you guys want to reply to your reviews or not lol so if you do, let me know HAHa) (or hmu on my tumblr)**

 **And btw - are my chapters too long? Lol and if anyone wants to beta bc i'm hella lazy to edit then hmu lol (i'll go back and edit this later but rn i'm tired as mothafucker)**


	7. Chapter 7

Months after her father left, Ariadne spent endless nights imagining what it'd be like if he ever returned. What she'd do - what'd she say - every little detail was stored in her mind. Her plan was to channel all her anger (and there so much of it) and hurl at it him with a barrage of insults and demand what was he thinking? How could he leave them? Did he even think about them when he left? Then she'd turn her verbal onslaught into a physical one and she'd grab him by the shirt collar (she imagined he'd be wearing the striped shirt she and Mason got him for father's day the year he left) and she'd throw him out for the whole neighbourhood to see. She'd put to rest all the rumours that they were struggling without them, she'd show La Push and her father just how little she needed Ezekiel.

But as he stood there (not wearing the shirt she got him), she was frozen.

And instead of anger, she felt joy. Because against her logic and against her will, she was so _happy_ to see him.

He was smiling at her, the dimple in his left cheek (the only physical trait she didn't inherit from him), showing and instead of picturing him gone, she pictured him staying forever. She imagined him apologizing and explaining that it was a huge misunderstanding and that he never meant to leave. She imagined that they'd go back to the way they were

"Hi princess," he called out her old (stupidly ridiculous nickname) and grinned his same smile (her smile); he opened his arms wide, ready for his hug.

To her embarrassment, her body seemed to move on it own accord and she was three steps away from throwing herself into his arms when she heard the front door slam so harshly, it sounded as if the hinges would break.

"What are you doing here?" Mason snarled as he caught sight of him. He instantly moved so he was standing in front of Ariadne and Lori.

"Mason! God, you're so tall!" Ezekiel seemed to ignore his anger and grinned at his son. "It's good to see you!"

Ezekiel had left (abandoned) them before Mason had had his impressive growth spurt so he was surprised at his son's new height of 6'2.

"What are you doing here?" Mason repeated and his tone was uncharacteristically cold as he stared down his father.

"Mason," Lori was the one who spoke first, her surprise fading away. "I was the one who said he could come - I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

"I, uh, I didn't have your number so I couldn't tell you I was here earlier," he smiled grimly and Ariadne slowly slid into the couch across from him. She couldn't stop staring. He was there. He was sitting right across from her.

"I guess you're not happy to see me," he noted with an awkward grimace and Mason snorted. "I just wanted to see you. I'll be quick then."

"You couldn't just email us or something," Mason grumbled as he fell back into the seat beside his sister.

"I don't have your emails," Ezekiel responded quickly. "And I wanted to see you all in person."

Mason mumbled something under his breath while Lori made a gesture for him to continue speaking.

"I - I'm living in New York with my fiance, Ivy," he explained. Ariadne felt her mother stiffen beside her - they had never married. "And, I wanted - when I left - I was young and stupid - and I miss you -"

"Get to the point," Mason cut in sharply, his jaw was clenched so tightly, Ariadne could hear his teeth grinding.

"Mason," Lori reprimanded and nudged his knee.

"First, I want you all to come to the wedding," Ezekiel clasped his hands together and blatantly ignored the horrified expression on their faces. "It's in Seattle and I'd love for - for my family to come."

"Secondly, I'd like for you to come visit me," he was looking at Ariadne now. "During the Summer or whenever you want - if you want to live with me -"

"She doesn't," Mason hissed as he placed his hand around his older sister's elbow.

"Of course not," Ezekiel shook his head hastily. "I - I just want you to visit me. Ivy is pregnant and well… I want my kid to know their older sister. I miss you, Princess."

He was smiling the same smile that used to make her stop crying when she fell off her bike and she felt the air escape her lungs. He was having another kid. He was having a child - presumably one he actually wanted. She didn't know what to say and she just sat there, blinking. It was Lori who spoke up first and offered him a strained congratulations. Whatever else they spoke about fell deaf upon Ariadne's ears. She couldn't hear anything. She didn't react to anything.

He explained that he was staying in Forks for a while and wanted to spend time with her. He wanted her to meet Ivy. He'd come back around later. He missed her. He wanted her at the wedding. He was proud of her.

He said all those things but she didn't respond.

The entire time, Ariadne didn't say a single word.

xxx

Nearly a week and a half passed since her father's proposal and while Ariadne had never been a very superstitious person, she couldn't help but feel that her father's appearance was a bad omen. First, all the wolves, seemed to disappear - Embry, Jared, Paul, Quil, Seth and Jake were all absent on Monday until Wednesday. Then they all returned except for Jake. It had now been nine days since he'd left and she was growing worried. She'd asked Embry about it but he'd just said that he was having some issues but was perfectly healthy and safe. And Embry seemed to have withdrawn from her completely - he never stayed over and kept all their conversations to their history project. Lori had taken it upon herself to find places to go so she didn't have to be home. Even Teya and Mason were acting oddly - quieter and she barely saw either of them. Mason seemed to be avoiding her while Teya was somehow always busy. All in all, things were _not_ going in Ariadne's favour.

And it got even worse on Thursday when Ariadne was walking home from the bus stop (Lori had taken her car again) and she was about to cross the road to get to her house when a slightly unfamiliar voice called out.

"Hey, Ariadne!" She turned around to see Teya's stepbrother, Lorenzo, waving at her with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh, hi Lorenzo," she managed to force a friendly smile and waved at him. He was getting out of his car and she paused at the end of his driveway and gave him a quick once over. He was still as gorgeous as she remembered.

"Have you seen my wonderful step-sister?" He looked surprised that they weren't together.

"Oh, uh, she'll be late home, she's helping organise some school fundraiser," she shoved her hands in her pocket and tried not to make it obvious that she just wanted to go home.

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow at the information and Ariadne didn't blame him. She was just as surprised as he was when Teya volunteered to help along with Kim.

"Yeah," she confirmed with a nod and tried to subtly look over to her house. If it was any other day, she might've been excited to be talking to the ruggedly handsome Lorenzo but now she just wanted to go home.

"She's avoiding the house, I think," he mused thoughtfully. He looked put out and slightly upset but Ariadne didn't look into it.

"Oh?" She replied distractedly as she glanced at her own driveway, frowning when she saw that her mother wasn't home.

"You know how she is," he shrugged with an uneasy laugh. "When the world isn't revolving around her, she gets bored."

While Ariadne did think Teya was self-absorbed, she wasn't about to bag out her best friend just because Lorenzo was attractive so she merely shrugged her shoulders and remained quiet. Enzo seemed to realise that he had offended her and quickly backtracked.

"Oh - I didn't mean it like that," he hastily added. "Just… I, uh, well she's never really warmed up to me after our parents married and I kinda wanted to get closer to her. She seems friendly with everyone and you know, I'm her step-brother so it kinda stings."

At his confession, Ariadne relaxed a little. He was right; Teya was able to make friends with practically anyone but she never seemed to like Enzo, who, from what Ariadne knew, was a great guy. She put it down as petty jealousy since Teya was always used to being the centre of attention and now that her older, equally good looking step brother was in the picture, she probably wasn't interested in being anywhere near home.

"Don't worry about it," she told him earnestly, feeling a little sympathetic. "She'll come around."

"Uh… has she ever mentioned… um hating me or anything?" He looked awkward and while Ariadne thought it was sweet - she also didn't know why he cared. Sure, she was his stepsister but they didn't grow up together and had never been close.

"No, she's never," Ariadne was actually telling the truth. In all honesty, she often forgot that Teya had an older stepbrother because she never spoke about him. Lorenzo seemed to relax at her admission and seemed to pick up on the fact that she wanted to go home.

"Oh, well thanks," he flashed her a smile. "I'll see you around, I guess."

She waved him and quickly made her way to her house. She was happy to see that the door was unlocked which meant Mason was at home. She hurried up her stairs and all but threw herself into her bed - she felt an oncoming headache and she didn't feel like talking to anyone. Just as she was deciding whether or not she'd order food or cook dinner, she saw a shadow cross her open bedroom door.

"Mase, where are you going?" She called out to her younger brother when he walked past her bedroom, dressed up, with a duffel bag. He paused at her door and turned to her.

"Out," he replied sharply. She was surprised by his tone and her eyebrows crinkled at his tense shoulders; he never spoke to her like that.

"Okay, um, what time will you be back?" She was planning on making pasta for dinner and wanted to know how much she should make.

"I don't know," he replied shortly. He shoved his phone and wallet into his pockets and didn't even glance at her.

"Mason, are you okay?" She kicked her blankets off and was about to stand up but he glared at her, startling her.

"As if you care," he scoffed incredulously and shot her a mutinous look.

"Excuse me?" She briefly wondered if he was going through puberty all over again or something - he never had this attitude.

"You're going to go running back to Ezekiel, aren't you?" he sneered viciously. "I don't know why I'm even why I'm asking, I know you'll go back."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She reared back like she'd been slapped.

"You've always been Daddy's little princess," he jeered, looking less like her brother than he'd ever before. "You're probably dying to leave."

"Me? I'm what kept this family together!" She hissed.

 _She_ was the one who cooked every single meal for them while Lori locked herself in her room. _She_ was the one who took Mason to the hospital when he broke his arm while Lori was God knows where. _She_ let him sleep in her room when he got scared after Lori let him watch scary movies.

"Tell me, right now, that when he asked to go back with him, you didn't want to say yes," he rounded on her furiously.

"Well… I mean, he's our dad - it passed my mind," she admitted, feeling like a criminal on trial as he glared at her accusingly. "But it wouldn't be so bad. It's not like we have to live with him, it'd just be during the holidays. And we -"

"Why do you keep saying 'we'?" He jumped in as he slammed his hand against her wall causing her to flinch.

"What-"

"He didn't ask me, he asked _you_ ," he spat back angrily.

"Mason, of course he wants you, he just - you reacted so badly so he -" She didn't know if what she was saying was the truth but she just wanted to Mason to stop looking at her like he hated her.

"No, he's not," Mason yelled back and Ariadne almost stumbled back at his sudden attitude.

"You've always been his favourite," he laughed bitterly. "You look exactly like him, and you were his special little princess. I remember how he used to show you the stars and tell you stories. You know, I used to press my ear against the window just so I could hear them too. When he left, I didn't feel the difference but then mum changed and she was always staring at us like she we ruined her life, but I guess we did. And it really fucking hurt -"

"Mason," she sounded like she was pleading now and she tried to figure out why he was acting this way. Had been thinking this way the entire time?

"But you were always there but now - you're just going to - and even if you don't, I know you want to and just, it's fucked up," Mason huffed and without sparing her another glance, walked off. "I'll be back next week. I don't know. I just wanna be alone."

He didn't give her a chance to reply and walked away, ignoring her as she called out to him. She heard the front door slam and she felt a twisting sensation in her stomach. He had never acted that way with her and she knew it was because of Ezekiel but it sounded as if he'd kept those thoughts and ideas to himself the entire time. She felt like crying. She didn't know what to do and the first thing that came to mind was to get her phone and she dialed the first number that came to mind.

"Ari, what's up?" Lori picked up instantly.

"Mum, it's Mason," she kept her voice steady and willed herself not to cry. When she was thirteen years old and her father walked out the door, she promised herself she'd never waste another tear on him and she wasn't ready to break that promise.

"What's wrong? Is he okay?" Lori sounded concerned and Ariadne perked up slightly that her mother did care.

"He's upset about the whole dad thing and he just left to Colin's house but he yelled at me - " She felt silly and childish, tattling to mother, but Mason, especially after Ezekiel left, _adored_ her. He never so much as even glared in her direction so being on the end of his anger made her feel sick. "He's angry with me. I - what if he hates me?"

"He's just emotional," Lori tried to soothe her worries but it was hard to so over the phone. "It'll be okay. Just give him time."

"But mum -"

"He'll be fine," Lori assured her.

"Where are you?" Her mother had all but thrown herself into work when Ezekiel returned and she'd barely seen any of her. But she knew for a fact that she wasn't at work now since the

"I'm - I'm on a work trip," she was lying. She was probably drinking away her problems somewhere and Ariadne was okay with that usually but just once this, she wanted her home.

"Mum, can't you come home? I -" She had never asked her mother to come back whenever she did her disappearing acts but she couldn't get the image of Mason out of her mind and she just didn't want to be _alone._

"Ari, baby, I'm sorry but I need to. I can't be there right now," Lori really did sound sorry. "I need some time to be alone."

"But -" Ariadne probably sounded like a child but she didn't care, she wanted someone to be there for her.

"We all need time to deal with the recent events," Lori sounded exactly like Mason and Ariadne wanted to scream. They were fine to be alone but she needed someone. She didn't want to be alone. She nodded glumly and whispered out a warbled goodbye before her mother hung up.

She flopped backwards onto her bed for the second time and let out a long scream into her pillow. Suddenly, she heard the front door open and she perked up at the sound - she heard footsteps and she looked up but to her disappointment it wasn't Mason.

"Oh." She couldn't hide her disappointment and dropped her head into her hands.

"Ari!" It was Teya and she stepped into her room, oblivious to what had just happened. "I just saw Mason leave, he gave me his key."

"Teya, what are you doing here?" Ariadne asked from her bed, head still in her hands.

"I need to talk," she paced the room and didn't seem to notice Ariadne's distressed demeanour. When she didn't look at Ariadne, Ariadne felt something inside her snap.

"I - Teya - just - not now, okay?" She wasn't in the mood to lend a listening ear to Teya. And Teya wasn't the type to lend a listening ear to her. "Can we talk another time, please?"

"Ari, I don't want to be-" Teya started to jump into a rant but Ariadne wasn't having it.

"I know Enzo is back and so the attention isn't on you but we're a bit older, don't you think?"

"What?" Teya blinked in surprise at her sudden mention of Enzo.

"So, maybe you should try and put some effort into it," she sighed and tried to ignore the look of outrage on her best friend's place. "Just because Enzo is back doesn't mean you can be like this."

"What is your problem?" Teya's eyebrows pinched in confusion at her friend's sudden attitude but Ariadne couldn't stop it. Anger was rolling off her like waves.

"I'm saying that I'm not in the mood to listen to sulk about not being the centre of attention," she sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"You think I'm - God, Ari - you're so -"

Teya was clearly hurt by her words and if Ariadne just wasn't so _confused_ and _angry,_ she probably would've stepped back but for once she wanted her problems to be the priority and so she snapped at her friend.

"For fucks sake Teya, just grow up," she hurled the insult at the shorter girl along with a glare.

"Screw you, Ari," Teya growled back, her hurt turning into anger. "Instead of just jumping to conclusions why don't you just ask me?"

"Teya, I'm _always_ listening to every single problem but for once I need you to just - just - leave me alone," Ariadne threw her hands up in anger.

"Excuse me for thinking my best friend would care about my problems," Teya hissed back, as she stood up, ready to leave. "You know I'd do anything to help you. You don't even tell me any of your problems."

Ariadne _knew_ that her anger was really at her parents but Teya was there and so she aimed it at her.

"Because you'd never understand!"

"I'd try! Which is more than you can say," Teya snarled back, eyes burning. "I've always tried to be understanding about Ezekiel."

"You wouldn't even understand any of my problems. You don't understand what it's like to lose someone you love," Ariadne snapped, anger taking over her brain. "Your dad was dead before you could even talk. You didn't even _know_ him."

The second the words left her mouth, Ariadne wished she could take them back and there was an apology on the tip of her tongue but she swallowed it when she saw the look on Teya's face. For a second, Ariadne thought Teya would hit her but instead, she did something much much worse.

She began to cry.

She didn't sob or wail but her eyes sparkled and a tear leaked out the corner of her left eye and she quickly wiped it away.

"Oh my god Teya, I'm so sorry," Ariadne felt like the worlds biggest asshole and she wanted to hit herself over the head.

"No - just - fuck you," Teya sniffed angrily and furiously wiped away another tear that threatened to slip out the corner of her eye.

"Teya, I'm _so_ sorry, I never meant to say that - oh my god - I'm - I don't know why I said that - fuck - Teya," Ariadne's guilt was so powerful now she was cringing as she reached out to touch her.

"Don't fucking touch me," Teya hissed and her voice was thick with tears. She turned on her heel and slammed her door so hard, it probably broke.

Ariadne felt like she was going to throw up. They had had arguments before (all best friends argued) but she had _n_ ever said anything like that before. She could count on one all the times she'd seen Teya cry - age 8, when her dog ran away, age 12, when her aunt Seneca passed away, age 13, when her cousin Brady went to juvenile for the first time and age 14, at her mother's second wedding.

And now, age 17, when her _best friend_ snapped at her about her _dead_ father.

She fucked up so badly.

xxx

Mason hated her. Teya probably hated her too. Embry wouldn't talk to her. Jake was gone. Lori resented her. All that seemed to happen in the span of one day and it was enough for Ariadne to break into her mother's liquor cabinet and take out a few drinks. She didn't want to get drunk inside the house so she did the smart thing.

She climbed out on her roof.

She and Teya used to hang out on the roof all time time when Lori and Ezekiel argued or when Teya thought about her dad. They hadn't done it in a long time and the thought of Teya made her eyes sting. Quite drunk, she managed to reach into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts and called a number.

They picked up on the fourth ring.

"Ariadne?"

She flew up into sitting position at the sound and grinned.

"Oh shit, my phone's talking to me," she mumbled drunkenly as she fumbled with the device in her hand. After a few seconds of prodding and pressing, she managed to put it on speaker. "Teya? 'M sorry for the whole - Enzo - jealousy - thing, I was way out of line but I was just pissed because -"

"Ari?" The voice that spoke was _not_ Teya.

"Oh, wait. It's Embry," she recognized the voice quickly and smiled at the sound. "Hello Em! Can I call you that? Because you call me Ari so it's only fair that I call you Em, right?"

"... uh, Ari are you okay?" He sounded both concerned and amused.

"Jake calls you Em because he's your friend," she continued to ramble, her head spinning as she stared up at the sky. "And we're friends... at least I _think_ we're friends."

"What - hey - of course we're friends!" He blustered suddenly although she was sure she could pick out a trace of guilt.

"But you don't feel like it," she told him honestly. "Ever - ever since the weird Paul thing - you - you don't talk to me the same way."

"Ari, are you sleep talking?"

"Nope," She replied cheerfully. "I used to sleep talk when I was little but then I stopped once I was in third grade. Did you know that when I was in third grade, me and Teya were pretending to be Power Rangers but we both fell down the steps and broke our ankle and we had matching casts but -"

"Ariadne, are you drunk?" He asked incredulously.

"Yep!" She confirmed with a grin. "I didn't actually mean to call you, I was trying to call Teya but your name is on top of hers because her surname is Denev and yours is Call!"

"Jesus, what are you doing getting drunk by yourself on Thursday night?"

"I'm not by myself! I'm with my friends Jack and Daniel," she threw her head back and laughed maniacally at her own joke. Her sloppy movements almost caused her to lose her balance and she let out a squeal and gripped onto the tile to steady herself.

"Ari, are you okay?" His earlier amusement had disappeared and now, he just sounded worried.

"Oops, I almost fell," she giggled breathlessly into the phone. "That would've been bad. I would've landed on the ground with a splat! Or maybe I would've gotten caught on my antenna, wouldn't that be funny, Em?"

"Antenna - what the - are you on the _roof_?" His voice sounded unnaturally high and she laughed at the sound.

"How did you know?" She asked in amazement and briefly wondered if one of his werewolf superpowers allowed him to see through phones.

"You're drunk while on the roof? What the fuck - okay just don't move - just stay right there!" He was frantic and she could hear him mumbling something but she couldn't make it out. "Just don't move. I'm - shit - just - fuck, Paul is going to - but I've got a shift - I'll -"

"Embry," she tried to cut in so she could reassure him she was fine and there was no need to be distressed but she hiccuped and didn't get to finish her sentence.

"I'm - I'll send Paul to -"

She was about to assure him that she was fine, but in the process, she accidentally ended the call. She sighed to herself and leant back onto the tiled roof - the drinks had finally settled in and she vaguely wondered how in the hell she was going to get down without dying. There was no way she could clamber back into her bedroom room without falling - she figured she'd just have to wait to sober up before she tried.

She laid on the roof for a few more minutes before a voice called out.

"What the hell are you thinking?" She didn't have to peer over the edge to know who it was - she recognised the voice instantly. She was going to try her best to slide down to see him but she didn't have to. With a surprising amount of grace that she was envious of, she saw him scale the tree that stood beside her house before he leapt onto the roof so he was standing beside her.

He was dressed in cutoffs and nothing else. And he did not look happy.

"Do you do parkour?" She asked him with a smile but that didn't seem to soothe his annoyance.

He didn't deign her with a response and instead scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder. The world tilted and Ariadne hoped that she wouldn't throw up all over his back. His grip on her waist tightened and she felt even more lightheaded and she felt him grab onto the ledge with his free arm and in one swift motion he landed in her bedroom. Without any warning, he unceremoniously dropped her onto her bed.

"What the fuck?" She groaned out when she bounced on her bed and fell off the edge, onto her carpeted floor with a thud. She rubbed her eye blearily and managed to crawl to the centre of her room where she laid on her back on the rug, head still spinning.

"Just stay still … I need to calm down," Paul muttered as he leant against her vanity, pinching his nose in the process. "I can't believe you - what the hell - what if you fell?"

"I thought Embry was coming," she opened an eye and saw him standing above her. She let out a laugh at the sight of his handsome face upside down. "Hey, you look great upside down!"

"How smashed are you?" He crouched down over her and she automatically reached out touch his clenched jaw. He shivered under her touch and she bit back a smug smile,

"Super!" She tried to wink at him but in her drunken haze, she couldn't so she gave him an emphasised blink. It probably looked silly but she didn't really care. "But I'm okay, so you should - you should calm down."

He stared at her for a moment longer before he heaved a sigh and moved so he was sitting down beside her; his was back against her bed and his legs stretched out.

"The last time I was this drunk I - actually - I don't really remember," she scrunched her nose as she tried to remember the last time she'd drank so much. "Oh. Whenever I get this drunk - I never - I don't - ever really remember."

"You don't remember what you say?" He frowned and reached out to move a strand of hair out of her mouth.

"Not well at least, honestly - I don't even have great memory while I'm sober so - " she finished it off with a shrug and lifted a lazy hand to offer him some of her drink. "Want some?"

"Nah, that shit won't even give me a buzz," he replied but took the drink out of her hand anyway and placed it on the other side of her bed.

She frowned to herself and wondered if that was a good or bad thing. It seemed that being a werewolf had a lot of side effects that she couldn't keep up with. She yawned for what felt like the hundredth time and wondered why she wasn't more freaked out about the fact that Paul Lahote was sitting in her bedroom while she was piss drunk. She wished it was Embry instead - she'd be less embarrassed.

"Paul?" Her voice came out as a whisper and she reached out just in case he didn't hear her (he did).

"Yeah?" He grunted in response when she tapped his leg.

"Why does Embry not like me anymore?" She couldn't help but ask. She missed him.

"He does - I -"

She gave him a pointed look and he sighed.

"Because he thought you'd be his," he replied after a long silence.

"His what?"

"His…" Paul trailed off, looking unsure of what to say and Ariadne wanted to reach out and trace the slight crease in his forehead as he thought. "He wanted you to be his… well, his person."

"Person? You can't be someone's person. Do you mean friend? Because I _am_ his friend," she didn't understand his poor explanation and was somehow even more confused than she was seconds ago.

"Yes but now you're my friend too, remember? I'm moving up the list," he reminded her.

"That doesn't make any sense - so I can't be friends with you at the same time?" She didn't know whether it was the alcohol or his confusing words that was making her head hurt.

"No, it's - he - it's more complicated than that,"

"I'm sure I can keep up," she breathed in deeply and gave him what she hoped looked like a look of determination.

"Me and Embry and the rest of the pack - I mean the rest of the guys - we share a lot of things," he licked his lips and looked like he was struggling to find the right words. "We, uh, share a lot of personal things -"

"This really makes me think you two are secretly in love," she intervened with a snort.

"- including our thoughts and lots of other things," he continued as if she hadn't spoken at all. If she wasn't so drunk she would've asked how they shared their thoughts. "And you were the only thing he didn't have to share. You were _his_ \- well at least that's what the bastard thought -"

"Don't call him that," she kicked him lightly but only succeeded in hurting her toe. She also didn't bother mentioning that she was a bastard too.

"Why? That's what he is," he didn't sound angry but she didn't like how easily the word slipped off his tongue.

"Because he doesn't like it," she countered, her eyebrows pinching together as she wondered if Paul called him that often.

"Truth hurts," he shrugged, unfazed by her annoyance. "He can't throw a fit every time someone mentions the fact that he's a bastard."

"Why are you being more of an asshole than usual?" She huffed and rolled onto her stomach so she didn't have to talk to him upside down.

"This is me," he ignored her jibe and pulled a pillow from her bed and placed it comfortably behind his head. "I'm an asshole."

"Not this much," she pointed out. She knew he wasn't some nice guy from the neighbourhood but he was never _this_ snappy.

"Well, I'm not in the best mood right now," he retorted with a grimace.

"Why?" In her inhibited state, she couldn't for the life of her figure out why he was so mad.

"I'm pissed that you're fucking wasted and climbed on a roof - what would you have done if you had fallen? Where the hell is your brother?" His eyes were blazing when he met her eyes and she almost flinched.

"He's over at a friend's house," she shrugged casually and looked away. She didn't want to talk about Mason.

"And your mother?" He prompted, eyebrow raised.

"I… I don't know," she wracked her brain trying to remember if Lori had told her where she was going but she came up blank.

"What do you mean you don't know? Is she missing?" His eyes snapped open and he looked genuinely worried for her mother. She was sort of touched by it.

"No she… sometimes she just needs a break," Ariadne explained softly. She didn't elaborate any further but she didn't need to.

"So she leaves her daughter alone to get drunk on her roof?" His lip curled in distaste and she felt a flare of anger at the judgemental tone directed at her mother.

"Hey, back off," she snapped angrily and swatted his arm in annoyance. "She's a single mother whose ex just showed up out of nowhere to invite her to his _wedding._ Of course she's going to be stressed."

"Is that what's stressing you out?"

"... partly," she admitted that much and decided to keep her argument with Teya to herself. She pushed the thoughts of Teya to the back of her mind - she knew that if she thought about it, she'd probably end up crying and while she wasn't sober, she certainly wasn't wasted enough to be drunk crying to Paul Lahote about her best friend.

"And so you decided to call _Embry_ to fix your problems?" He sneered, eyes flashing again.

"I wasn't even trying to call Embry," she defended moodily. "Seriously, what the hell is your problem with him?"

"I told you, he thought that you were going to be his," his frustration seeped into his tone and she watched as he clenched his fists so tightly she thought she heard his knuckles crack.

"What does that even mean?" She threw her arms up in exasperation and not for the first time, wondered if it was a werewolf thing to make zero sense at all times.

"He thought you were his to keep all to himself," he seemed to be shivering as he spoke, his shoulders were trembling. "But now he can't. And you're with us. With _me._ You're _mine_ now."

"But I'm not yours," she told him with an incredulous look and she noticed that he looked like she'd just punched him in the gut.

"You kind of are," he sounded pained and a little angry but Ariadne didn't understand and she was too tired to _try_ to understand

"I'm kind of not," she shot back, her eyes fluttering shut as she felt the fatigue catch up with her. "I don't belong to anyone."

"Yes. Yes, you do." He was sounding more frustrated by the second but she couldn't seem to find the energy to care.

"No, I don't," she insisted with a frown.

"Just - you'll understand one day," he relented and shook his head.

"Doesn't sound like something I want to understand," she yawned and scratched the side of her nose. "And where is Jake? You know, he's good at explaining things."

"He's in… Canada," he seemed unwilling to talk about it but Ariadne decided that just for tonight, she'd try to sate her curiousity.

"Why?"

"He met his uh… his girl, I guess and -" Paul looked annoyed about it but she couldn't pick out why.

"Bella Swan?" Jacob had mentioned his long-time crush and supposed best friend but it wasn't really working out for him what he told her. Something about there being another guy but she wasn't into the whole love triangle thing, it was too soap opera for her.

"It wasn't Swan. It was someone else but he didn't - and just - you won't get it," he sighed and gave up trying to explain. "The girl that belongs to him isn't who he wanted it to be so he's mad."

"You're not making any sense or maybe you are, I don't know, I'm drunk." She couldn't help but think that Jake was getting mad over such a silly thing. "Holy shit, I'm so drunk."

"I'm not doing a really good job of taking care of you," he frowned and lazily threw a blanket over her although she didn't really need it thanks to his proximity.

"I'm not an pet," she groaned out of annoyance and also because her head felt like it was about split open. "You all do that a lot and usually I'll just let it go but now that you guys seem to be my temporary friends , I'll let you know now. You can't send Seth to my house to check on me like I'm a kid. Embry doesn't have to … relinquish me to you like I'm an object. And Jacob can't _own_ someone. And just … Ugh."

"Articulate," he noted, seemingly uninterested in her mini-rant.

"Just… shut up," she sighed but didn't try to kick him again. "In short, I think you guys are controlling and possessive, and I don't like that."

"It'd make sense if you just _asked_ us about it," he told her with a piercing gaze. "We'd tell you."

"I can't ask anything like that," she shook her head with a giggle as if he was silly for even thinking that. "First of all, it's not any - any - of my business. And secondly, if I ask, that means I'll know more and I have to - I have to - care."

"What's so bad about caring?"

This time, Ariadne threw her head back and laughed so hard, tears streamed freely down her cheeks.

"I can't care," she shook her head wildly and wiped the salty tears that had trailed down to her chin. "If I care too much then you'll just leave me."

Like Lori. Like Mason and Jake and Embry. Like Ezekiel. Only Teya had stuck around but then she screwed that up and now she was so very alone. She was too embarrassed to face Paul and there was a voice in the back of her head telling her she was going to be mortified in the morning so she merely brushed off her

"I guess it's in my name," she shrugged knowingly and turned to him. "Do you know who I was named after?"

"No," he eyed her carefully as if afraid she'd burst into tears at any moment.

"She was a mythical Princess," she hiccuped as she recalled the story of Ariadne. "Princess Ariadne. And she used to live in the - uh -the labyrinth. And there was a terrible beast called a minotaur that lived in there as well and thousands of great warriors tried to slay him but they were all defeated. Until, one day, Theseus came along and Ariadne fell in love with him. He asked her to help him slay the beast and she did so he promised her love and - and promised to be with her forever. And he married her."

"Then they lived happily ever after?" He guessed with an unimpressed expression. When she was younger, Ezekiel would tell her the story and stop there but after he left, she looked up the story and saw there was more to it.

"No, they didn't." She smiled and looked away.. "Theseus decided one day that he didn't love her anymore so he abandoned her on an island to be alone."

There was a long silence and Ariadne hoped he wouldn't try to comfort her because she was almost certain she'd cry. She looked up at him and thought for a moment, he'd reach out to her.

"That's a stupid story," he finally spoke up.

"It's not stupid!" She shot back defensively - it was her father's favourite story and she would always cherish it as such.

"Yes it is, and you're stupid for thinking it has an relevance to your life," he continued, his arms folded across his chest.

"I'm not stupid!"

"Yes, you are."

His attack on her intelligence made her angrier and she felt a flare of fury. A sudden thought came to her mind and she flew up into sitting position, ignoring the way the world around her spun - she was about to prove just how smart she was.

"If I was so stupid then how did I figure it out, huh?" She smiled coyly and nudged his shoulder playfully but he didn't budge.

"Figure what out?" He reached out to steady her when her upper body swayed.

"That you and Embry and Jake and all - all the big boys," she flapped her hands around clumsily. "I know what you all are."

"... We're what?"

She could see the surprise in his eyes and she smiled triumphantly - it served him right for calling her stupid. She crawled towards him, half on his lap, and tapped his nose playfully.

"I know that you're all werewolves, silly!"

* * *

 **a/n: the wolf's outta the bag! Ariadne is blinded by love for her father (she was his favourite and he always treated the best) so don't judge her too hard but DO judge her for being an asshole to teya.**

 **the story of ariadne + theseus was slightly tweaked for the purpose of this story**

 **Anyway, thanks for all those who review! You're legit the reason why i write :')))) tell me what ya think! Hate it? Love it?**

 **(and visit my tumblr lilithdancer . tumblr. com where i write headcanons and answer asks and all that jazz)**


	8. Chapter 8

Paul froze and despite his abnormally high temperature, his skin felt cold. Ariadne didn't seem to notice his change in demeanour and laughed loudly, resting her head on his shoulder with a sigh. If he wasn't so blindsided by her last comment, he would've melted against her frame.

"Ariadne, what did you just say?" Reluctantly, he nudged her head off his shoulder and looked her carefully in the eye.

"I said, I'm not stupid," she repeated as she clumsily rolled off him so that she landed on the floor in a heap. As soon as her head hit the carpet, she let out a boisterous laugh followed by a hiccup.

"No, after that," he cut in sharply, poking her on the forehead when she looked like she was a few seconds from falling asleep.

"After what?" She repeated drowsily, looking confused at his sudden piercing gaze.

"After you said the - you said I was a werewolf!" He fought the urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. Seemingly unbothered by his sudden panic, Ariadne merely yawned and sleepily shrugged her shoulders.

"Did I?" She cocked her head to the side confused and tugged on her comforter from her bed and pulled it down so it covered her lower body. Paul's temper spiked at her uncaring manner and he nudged her waist with his foot but she grumbled and slapped it away, turning over.

"Ariadne," he encircled his hand around her ankle and pulled her roughly towards her, making her groan loudly. "Why did you say that?"

"God, I just said you're a werewolf," she mumbled angrily and shook her foot free. "Calm down, asshole."

Unhappy with his harsh movement, Ariadne rolled over and wriggled her foot until he eventually let go. She grabbed the edges of her comforter which had slipped off her when Paul pulled her, and she rolled into it, cocooning herself into its warmth. Irritation shot through the hulking werewolf like a snake and he brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, more than annoyed that she had decided to drop a bomb then ignore him.

"Ariadne -" he started through gritted teeth but she kicked him away in a huff and turned around, pulling her blanket around her frame. He tried to speak up again but he was distracted by the new scent that presented itself from under her window. He froze for a second, immediately pulling himself into a crouched position but then relaxed as soon as he recognized the smell. Moving toward the window, he glanced down and saw Embry standing at the bottom, preparing to jump up. Paul stepped back and waited for his packmate to enter the room.

"Yo, Paul. Is she okay?" Embry glided through the window as easily as Paul had and moved towards where Ariadne was. He sniffed her once and almost recoiled. "Shit, she's fucking wasted."

"Embry -" Paul tried to call out to him but he sidestepped him easily and crouched down so that he was eye to eye with Ariadne who had seemingly either fallen asleep or completely passed out.

"How did she even get on the roof if she was this drunk?" Embry wondered aloud as he poked her forehead; she didn't move under his touch and merely made a noise that sounded like both a groan and the word "fuck".

"Em - she knows," Paul was too stressed about Ariadne's confession to bother asking what the hell Embry was even doing there. "She fucking knows about - about what we are!"

The younger wolf stared back in silence, obviously shocked at Paul's seemingly sudden outburst.

"... huh?"

"Ariadne _know_ s about what we are," Paul repeated furiously through gritted teeth. Both Ariadne and Embry seemed to be unbothered by the stressful situation at hand and that only made the already-volatile wolf more annoyed.

"I didn't tell her - I swear!" Embry immediately raised his hands defensively as soon as Paul gave him an accusatory glare. "Did she say I told you?"

"She said she figured it out," he replied, panic lacing his tone as he tried to figure out what the hell that meant.

"She's the most oblivious person in the world," Embry snorted as he recalled all the times he had made stupid slips and she had completely missed them.

"Is she? Is she really?" Paul shot him a dirty look as memories of her knowing looks surfaced. "No one is that oblivious. Maybe she's known this whole time and -"

"Or maybe she's someone who respects privacy and doesn't try to pry into shit that isn't her business because she knows what it feels like," he replied with a snort. Paul didn't share his good humour and merely narrowed his eyes in response - he knew that Embry and Ariadne were close but that didn't mean he enjoyed hearing how the younger wolf knew her much better than he did.

Before Paul could reply with a snarky retort, Ariadne finally seemed to stir and she blearily rubbed her eyes as she blinked up at the wolf at the side of her bed. "Embry? When did you get here?"

"Ariadne, hey sweetie," Embry ignored Paul's threatening growl at the term of the endearment and bent down to brush her hair out of her face. He nudged her shoulder a few times until she finally managed to fully open her eyes.

"Embry!" She smiled happily at his appearance in between a big yawn. "You came!"

"Why do you think we're wolves?" Not bothering to beat around the bush, Embry quickly asked her, ignoring Paul when he made a choked noise.

"Because … you just are," she wasn't very eloquent in her inhibited state and poked Embry's cheek, cooing when she touched the dimple. "Wolf man!"

"Is that so?" He was grinning as if she was amusing and her grin was equally playful - he took delight in her drunken state. Paul, on the other hand, had never wanted to hit Embry so much in his life.

"Yup, you're a werewolf! And that girl from - the pretty one with curly hair - she's a witch!" Ariadne babbled incessantly, giggling when Embry lifted her up gently into sitting position. "She has powers! She knew about Sunshine! I hate Sunshine because it's worse than being a princess."

At her words, Paul and Embry looked at each other in confusion.

"Who's Sunshine?" Paul's eyebrows were crinkled in bemusement as Ariadne smiled back at him.

"Can't tell you, it's a secret! No one knows 'cept for the witch," she gave him a cheesy wink and clumsily placed her finger on her lips.

"Paul, I think she's just _really_ drunk," Embry decided as he watched Ariadne continue to babble about nothing in particular.

"No I'm not! You're a wolf! And Blue or was her name Pink? I can't remember but she was a witch! Or was her name rainbow? I can't remember - maybe it was a leprechaun?" She laughed again and her nonsensical words rang through the room.

"Yeah, she's really drunk," Embry shook his head in disbelief at the words that left her mouth. He wouldn't have been surprised if she had taken more than just a few shots of vodka.

"And she drunkenly thinks we're werewolves? What are the chances?" Unconvinced but still thoroughly confused, Paul ran a frazzled hand through his hair.

"Everyone knows the stories and we do act weird, it's just something her drunken mind has conjured up," Embry consoled, puzzled at why Paul was acting so worried.

"Embry, she knows!"

"Paul, she's talking about witches and leprechauns and princesses," Embry gave him a flat look and they both turned to Ariadne who was now saying talking about Miss Enders being a demon. "She probably doesn't even know her own name."

"I do too! It's Sunshine!" She interjected indignantly and tried to slap Embry's shoulder but she missed and hit her head on his knee.

"See," Embry gave Paul a pointed look while balancing Ariadne carefully.

Still unsure, Paul groaned and held his head. Imprints were supposed to make him stronger - make him feel better with the change.

Ariadne made Paul want to break something. He hated the feeling of complete and utter panic that flared in his chest every time he so much as _thought_ she was in trouble. He hated the way he panted after her, almost swooning if she so much as smiled at him. He hated how he cared so much about what she thought about him - what he hated the most was the fact that he didn't hate _her._ Not even a little bit.

"I - I can't deal with this right now," Paul finally got out as he rubbed his temples. "Just make sure she doesn't choke on own her own vomit or something."

"What? Where are you going?" Embry's eyes flew to him as soon as he realised that the older teen was planning on leaving.

"Home," he replied as he moved towards the window. "I'm fucking exhausted, tell her to call me when she wakes up."

"Wait - you can't leave me here -" Embry immediately protested.

As much as Embry liked Ariadne, he didn't particularly want to have to hold her hair back while she threw up.

"Just look after her," Paul scowled, growing irritated that Embry couldn't just understand that he wanted to leave.

"She's your imprint!" Embry squawked indignantly when he saw Paul slowly make his way over to the window, readying himself to jump out. "You should be looking after her!"

"You're higher on the chart!" Paul growled back in return and peered over his shoulder to see that Ariadne wasn't paying their argument any mind and looked more focused on trying not to throw up, as she swallowed her saliva.

"What chart?" Embry's face contorted into a look of pure confusion as he reached out to try and stop his packmate.

"The stupid fucking friend chart that she goes on about - you're higher than me and Denev is at the top and she's probably going to give her virginity to her!" Paul was flailing his arms around as he tried to ignore the uneasiness he felt in his stomach at the thought of leaving his imprint in such a vulnerable state.

"What the hell are you talking about? Wait, are _you_ drunk as well?" Embry's tone was coloured with disbelief as Paul's rambling did nothing to rid his confusion.

"No, you dumb mo- look, just fucking, I can't deal with this right now," Paul pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to suppress the anger that was swimming in the pit of stomach.

"Why's it even a big deal? If she really knows - and she probably doesn't - what's wrong with that?" He questioned with a pinched expression. "You're going to have tell her anyway!"

"Not anytime soon," he spat back through gritted teeth. If she was upset enough to get wasted on a Thursday night alone, she definitely wasn't in the right mindset to find out about being bound to a fucking werewolf.

"You make this hard in yourself," Embry threw his arms up in frustration.

"Because this _is_ fucking hard!" Paul shouted back, feeling furious. "You don't understand what it's like - I'm tied to her now! She's my responsibility and I can't even - she knows and - fuck -"

As the stress and anger began to pile up, Paul's frame began to shake.

"Paul, just calm down."

"No, you shut the fuck up," Paul snarled, shoving Embry back so that he crashed into Ariadne's wardrobe causing the door to splinter in half. "The only reason she's even upset is because you're ignoring her because you're a little bitch -"

"Fuck you! I was her friend before you imprinted on her -" Embry kicked the broken wooden door to the side, no longer trying to calm the situation. He was merely trying to help and he was sick of Paul acting like everything was his fault. If anything, it was Paul's fault for taking such shit care of his imprint.

"She's been mine since the beginning!"

"Listen to yourself, you sound like a fucking idiot -" Embry scoffed incredulously. "And don't even think about fucking phasing right now - you'll hurt her!"

"Embry, I swear to God I'm going to throw you out of this room if you don't shut the -" Paul spat out through gritted teeth although he moved back and focused on breathing in and out; he was not going to phase in the middle of his imprint's bedroom. Realising that Paul was trying to calm down, Embry wisely remained quiet and evened out his own breathing. After a few moments of forced peace, Embry slowly bent down to pick up the broken door to Ariadne's cupboard.

Unable to help himself, he made a jibe at Paul. "Nice going, you broke her cupboard."

"For fucks sake Em, give me a fucking break!"

" _What the hell are you two doing_?" A new voice cut in shrilly before either could get riled up again.

Paul reacted first and spun around on his heel, teeth bared at the newcomer, a growl ready to leave his throat. Thankfully once he caught sight of who the newcomer was, he was only just able to stop himself and quickly snapped his mouth shut - although his eyes were still wild with anticipation.

In their anger and frustration (and the fact that the stench of alcohol seemed to clog their senses), they didn't hear or smell Teya - who was staring that the both of them in both horror and fear. There was a brief moment of silence where no one said anything and all three just stared at each other in what seemed like equal bewilderment and terror.

"Shit - what are you doing here?" Panicked by her sudden appearance, Paul blurted out the first question that came to his mind.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing!" When she managed to regain her composure, she quickly retorted, eyes taking in Ariadne's messy room and the broken cupboard door.

"We were just here for Ari," Embry managed to snap out of his stupor and gave the confused girl a forced smile (although it came out more like a grimace). "She's not in the best condition right now."

"..."

"She's drunk and we thought we'd come and check up on her," Embry clarified when she still didn't respond. This time, the smile he gave her was more sincere and slowly rolled his shoulders back, showing a more relaxed stance.

Under the assumption that his reassurance would placate her, Embry was surprised when her eyes narrowed even further. Both Paul and Embry seemed to underestimate Teya because she didn't seem at all convinced and just stared at them.

"She left me like eight drunk voicemails and so I came to check up on her and you're both here," Teya told them slowly, her eyes flickering between their angry postures and the passed out Ariadne on the bed. Her eyes then travelled to the broken cupboard door and her lips curled at the sight. Wordlessly, she walked past them and approached the ill girl, crouching down so she was eye-level with her.

"Ari? Are you okay?" Teya asked softly, and prodded her cheek that wasn't lying against the wall of her bathroom.

"Embry and Paul…" she mumbled as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Ariadne didn't say anything else and promptly passed out again.

Her last words before falling asleep did nothing to curb Teya's wariness.

"Did you … do anything?" Teya spun around and faced them head on. Paul had never really spoken to her before, he knew her as the short, outrageously hot (every guy on the Rez's wet dream) girl that hung around his imprint and had been (vocally) crushing on Embry since last year. He stared down at her and noticed that she was even smaller up close, she barely reached neither his or Embry's chest. He could smell the fear rolling off her and her heartbeat was racing - he didn't blame her, even a human could feel the tension and anger in the air.

But despite her fear, she stood protectively in front of Ariadne and Paul decided that even if she was an annoying little shrimp who was too loud, she was a good friend to his imprint. So instead of snapping at her (like he desperately wanted because he would _never_ hurt Ariadne), he stepped back and pulled Embry back with him.

"We didn't, I swear. She called Embry, you can check her phone's call log if you want to," he appeased her quietly. "She said she was on the roof, and Embry got worried and sent me here instead coz he was busy. I didn't - I would never do anything like that. But if you want us to leave or anything, we will."

Embry seemed confused at Paul's reaction but quickly jumped in to add his own piece, not wanting Teya to assume the worst.

"Really," Embry added with a sincere look. "I - Ari is my friend - I'd never - I swear, she just drunk dialed us and we came to help."

Teya remained unmoving and only slid her eyes from the two teens that were standing there and the sleeping girl on her bed. After a few moments of tense silence, she finally breathed in deeply and nodded her head once.

"Okay… I'm going to trust you, but if she says anything or even has a single unexplained injury , then I'm going to kill you," she told them both seriously, as if she could actually even hurt either of them.

"Fair," they both agreed simultaneously and shuffled away from Ariadne's bed.

"What stage of drunkenness is she at?" Teya asked as she moved to the centre of the room to inspect Ariadne's

"What?" Paul raised a single eyebrow at her out of place question.

"Has she tried to kiss you?" Teya raised an eyebrow and looked at both of them. "She does that sometimes."

"No! She's just… saying weird stuff," Embry cleared his throat and Paul ignored the red hue that appeared on Embry's face at the thought of Ariadne kissing him. Paul could kill him later.

"Oh… she's probably about to throw up then," Teya grumbled and with a surprising amount of strength, pulled Ariadne up off the bed until the drunken girl slowly came back to consciousness.

"Huh? Whazzapening?" Ariadne asked as she swayed violently - thankfully, Teya was able to hold her up. The shorter girl didn't reply and just slowly pulled her to the bathroom, rubbing soothing circles on her back as she did.

"You guys go, I'm gonna change her and put her bed," Teya threw over her shoulder before she managed to pull Ariadne to her toilet and quickly flipped the lid so she could proceed with hurling her guts out.

Despite feeling the urge to stay and keep his imprint company while she was ill, Paul managed to slowly nod and grasped Embry's shoulder.

"Let's get out of here," he pulled the shorter male towards the window they'd entered through.

"Are you sure -?" Embry asked with a wrinkled nose (the smell of Ariadne's puke was pungent) and gave him an uncertain look.

"I said, let's go." The tone of finality in his voice jolted Embry and he didn't make any

Paul was tired and annoyed and confused - if he remained within Ariadne's presence any longer, he was sure he'd end up hurting something. So without a second glance back, he pulled her curtains back and leapt down onto the grass below his feet; Embry followed only moments after.

xxx

The next morning when Ariadne woke up, her head was pounding and she felt like she had been hit by a truck.

"Ariadne Selene Walker," a shrill voice cut into the silence that had welcomed the slumbering girl when she woke up and she instantly flinched at the sound.

"That's not my middle name," Ariadne groaned and brought her hand up to her eyes to try and block out the light that had filtered through the small gap of her half-closed curtains.

"You should get up," the voice nagged again and Ariadne realized that it could only be one person.

"Kim... what day is it?" She rolled over and asked into her pillow although somehow, the older girl still heard her question.

"It's Friday," Kim told her promptly and helped her sit up, grimacing when she caught sight of the top of Ariadne's head which resembled a bird's nest.

"What time is it?" Ariadne groaned and blearily reached out to grab the bucket Kim had kindly offered her and proceeded to throw up. The older girl wrinkled her nose in disgust but was still kind enough to pat her back soothingly, and pushed her hair back. But

"It's 1:30 pm," Kim informed her loudly and leant over her head to open her curtains completely.

"You skipped school to see me?" Ariadne threw her a confused look as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"As if," Kim snorted incredulously. "I finished early today."

"Oh."

Ariadne nodded once before pulling her blanket back over her head, intent on sleeping until the weekend. Or at least until her violent headache left her. The silent bliss she felt only lasted about three seconds before her blanket was yanked from over her head.

"Ariadne Samantha Walker!" Kim nagged loudly, shaking her shoulder for good measure."

"Why are you yelling?" Ariadne moaned as she threw her arms up to cover her eyes from the incoming sun. "And that's not my middle name either."

Kim had been trying to figure out her middle name since middle school but all she knew was that it began with the letter 'S. Ariadne had promised her, she'd tell her if she ever guessed it correctly.

"You deserve it," Kim shot back scathingly and didn't even flinch when Ari pegged a pillow at her head. Realising that she probably _did_ need to get up, Ariadne gave up and slowly pushed herself into sitting position.

"How did you even get in?" She asked while yawning, her eyes felt heavy and despite her best efforts to ignore it, the fogginess in her head made her want to double over.

"You left your door unlocked," she answered with a frown. "That is really dangerous by the way - you need to stop doing that!"

"Mm." Used to all Kim's complaints about leaving doors unlocked, Ariadne ignored her and just tried to get up.

"I can't believe you said that about Teya's dad," Kim admonished as soon as the younger girl managed to drag herself off the bed so that she could stretch properly

"She told you?" Ari groaned, the deep feeling of regret bubbled in her stomach along with pangs of hunger and thirst.

"No, _you_ did, in ten of your drunk text messages that you sent me last night," Kim snorted with a roll of her eyes as she showed Ariadne the numerous missed calls and text messages she'd sent while drunk.

"Is she mad?" Ari couldn't help but frown at the memory of Teya's torn face. She wished she could go back and stop herself from ever saying anything like that.

"You know her, she can never stay angry for long," Kim assured her, although there was a little bit of disappointment with her tone.

Turning to Kim, Ariadne cocked her head to the side. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Kim responded, eyebrows raised as she picked up the discarded duvet from the floor and spread it out neatly onto Ariadne's bed.

"Are you mad at me?" It wasn't often that Teya and Ariadne fought but on the rare occasions they did, Kim never picking sides in secret. She was usually quite loud with who she agreed with (it was usually Ari) but somehow, that didn't hinder her ability to play peacemaker.

"You made a mistake and you're sorry for it," Kim shrugged and explained carefully. "It's normal to say things in the heat of the moment but it's also normal that Teya is mad. What you said was fucked up - even if you didn't mean to say it."

A little sulky, Ariadne rubbed her temples with a groan.

"What should I do?" She questioned, wracking her brain for a solution. Teya had never really been this upset with her before and it was weird.

After a few moments of silence Kim spoke up to suggest something. "Vanilla cake?"

Despite it sounding incredibly stupid, vanilla cake was all three girls' weakness. Whenever anything really bad happened, they'd get vanilla cake. It was from a little bakery in Forks and the girls would sit around the kitchen bench and eat the entire cake to themselves. They hadn't had one since Teya had been badly dumped.

"Think it'll work?"

"The vanilla cake always works," Kim rolled her eyes before she fluffed out Ariadne's pillows.

"Can you drive?" Ariadne asked as she dragged her feet to the bathroom, feeling dangerously ill.

"Obviously," Kim snorted and fished her keys out of her pocket. Just as Ariadne entered her bathroom and turned the tap on - Kim called out to her.

"Ari, what the hell happened to you cupboard door?"

 **a/n: sorry this sux but i just wanted to post something even if it is short.**


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